#snoopy shorts flash

[boringwomanwithabook]

morning flash - quick look away

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA's mini BurstCube mission detects mega blast

The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months.

“We’re excited to collect science data,” said Sean Semper, BurstCube’s lead engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s an important milestone for the team and for the many early career engineers and scientists that have been part of the mission.”

The event, called GRB 240629A, occurred on June 29 in the southern constellation Microscopium. The team announced the discovery in a GCN (General Coordinates Network) circular on August 29.

BurstCube deployed into orbit April 18 from the International Space Station, following a March 21 launch.

The mission was designed to detect, locate, and study short gamma-ray bursts, brief flashes of high-energy light created when superdense objects like neutron stars collide. These collisions also produce heavy elements like gold and iodine, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. 

BurstCube is the first CubeSat to use NASA’s TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, a constellation of specialized communications spacecraft. Data relayed by TDRS (pronounced “tee-driss”) help coordinate rapid follow-up measurements by other observatories in space and on the ground through NASA’s GCN.

BurstCube also regularly beams data back to Earth using the Direct to Earth system — both it and TDRS are part of NASA’s Near Space Network.

After BurstCube deployed from the space station, the team discovered that one of the two solar panels failed to fully extend. It obscures the view of the mission’s star tracker, which hinders orienting the spacecraft in a way that minimizes drag. The team originally hoped to operate BurstCube for 12-18 months, but now estimates the increased drag will cause the satellite to re-enter the atmosphere in September. 

“I’m proud of how the team responded to the situation and is making the best use of the time we have in orbit,” said Jeremy Perkins, BurstCube’s principal investigator at Goddard. “Small missions like BurstCube not only provide an opportunity to do great science and test new technologies, like our mission’s gamma-ray detector, but also important learning opportunities for the up-and-coming members of the astrophysics community.”

BurstCube is led by Goddard. It’s funded by the Science Mission Directorate’s Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. The BurstCube collaboration includes: the University of Alabama in Huntsville; the University of Maryland, College Park; the Universities Space Research Association in Washington; the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington; and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

IMAGE: BurstCube, trailed by another CubeSat named SNOOPI (Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation), emerges from the International Space Station on April 18, 2024. Credit NASA/Matthew Dominick

[olivine-gal]

GARFIELD POST-EVOLUTIONARY TIMELINE

2008: beginning of post-Garfield, marked by the release of Lasagna Cat (Fatal Farm) and Garfield Minus Garfield (Dan Walsh), both depicting avant-garde alterations to the Garfield formula in ways that deconstruct the long-established formula, either by directly translating the jokes in their most banal form or by removing Garfield from the equation to portray Jon Arbuckle as deeply alone and psychologically tormented

2013: YouTube animator PilotRedSun releases the video "Garfielf", directing the trend of post-Garfield towards stylistic depravity while retaining the same mockery of modern Garfield.

2013 also marks the creation of "Hungry" by comic artist Dubblebaby, one of the earliest known iterations of the "Gorefield" genre of post-Garfield and the origin of its most popular namesake, "I'm sorry Jon". This piece in particular draws inspiration from the classic Creepypasta "Dogscape", itself based on 4chan horror edits of newspaper comic star Marmaduke.

2018: The beginning of the Gorefield genre proper, initiated by the release of SCP-3166, also titled "You Have No Idea How Alone You Are, Garfield" (taking its title from [REDACTED]). Multiple comics depicting Garfield (flashing lights warning for second link) become popular on r/surrealmemes. September 18th, 2018, however, marks the beginning of a series of posts by horror artist William Burke's depicting grotesque, monstrous versions of Garfield tormenting a hapless Jon, in what would be the proper establishment of Gorefield.

2018-2019: Primary era of Gorefield and r/imsorryjon, a subreddit dedicated to variations of horror-themed Garfield fanart. Standout posts to the community are typically standalone pieces seeking to explore new depths of inhumanity to twist classic Garfield concepts. Others, such as the Garfield Gameboy'd series by Lumpy Touch, explore short-term horror storytelling.

2019-2020: By this point, Gorefield had become route with the mainstream audience, and the internal community began to explore new interpretations of the genre. Drawing from its anti-commercialism roots, many artists began to explore similar body horror themes in other popular franchises while some instead deconstructed the Gorefield subject, returning to the comedic dynamic of classic Garfield while retaining his goofy appearance, or even injecting pathos of Jon and Garfield's owner-pet relation.

2020-2022: In sharp contrast to the prior dominance of horror-themed Garfield, artists began to seek to capture the warmth and charm of the late 70s to early 80s Garfield - an act standing in defiance of brand hegemony, as well as increased trends in pop culture towards franchise recycling. This wave grew to prominence in predominantly queer artist circles on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, correlating to a similar adoption of Snoopy and Hello Kitty as gay icons.

2022-present: In tandem with the height of nostalgic Garfield art were increasing depictions of Garfield as one of the internet's most popular archetypes: a cat-girl. Design elements vary wildly depending on the Intern ecosystem in which they emerge and the taste of the artist; recent artists have sought to use Garfield to increase the amount of fat catgirl content. As with nostalgic Garfield, there is plentiful popularity in the queer community, and depictions of lesbian, butch, and/or transfem Garfield are common.

Garfield's popularity remains a deep paradox, where his deep-seated hold on pop culture exists in parallel to a deep-seated regard for the series humor as trite and repetitive. With this affection devoid of any attachment to the original media, it comes as no surprise how many radically different directions fanart have taken to find a new meaning for the character. At the end of the road, of course, I think Garfield will be with us for a long time, no matter what form they make take.

(All sources to depicted fan-media are linked in corresponding paragraph, please inform me if any are missing / erroneous)

GARFIELD EVOLUTIONARY TIMELINE

1976: Proto-Garfield, side-character to Jon

1978: Earliest properly-recognizable Garfield, visual overhaul accompanies syndication and retitle of comic to Garfield

1979: Transitional state between proto-Garfield and 80s Garfield, marketed by increased anthropomorphization and larger, cartoonish expressions, while retaining a realistic body shape

1980-1984: 80s Garfield, facial structure has largely stabilized save for dimensions, noticeable retention of quadrupedal motion in most situations

1985-1992: Emergence of modern Garfield, shift towards predominantly vertical locomotion, expansion of feet, facial structure begins to horizontally compress and vertically extend

1989: [REDACTED]

1993-1999: Continued anthropomorphic shift, separation of head from torso and reduction of belly fat, noticeable

2000-present: stabilization of modern Garfield, head size reduced in final proportion alteration. Jim Davis had divined the final, perfect version of his pop culture homonculus.

...but the end of the road for one man is a broad horizon for the next...

[rere-the-writer]

Aaah ok Ive had this in my mind for a bit but can you do Klaus x reader where he rejects the reader and then gets with Caroline (no hate to her she just fits the story) so she leaves for a bit and Klaus realizes he misses the reader (u can pick the ending either angsty or fluffy) XD

Hey who asked for some angst

Warnings- Angst like alot nothing but angst,

A/N: Normally I love Caroline and Klaus together but I just wanted to do some angsty angst

You smooth out the dress you bought for the Mikaelson ball after being invited by both Elijah and Rebekah as they liked you a bit better than your sister Caroline. You had became close friends with Elijah and Rebekah as both were protective of you so when you told them you had feelings for Klaus they were surprised but supportive.

"Tonight is the night." You muttered to yourself looking a mirror seeing the dress you wore. It was a lovely navy that was strapless and how the dress hugged your curves perfectly as Rebekah always told that it only took a the perfect dress to feel like a princess and she was right.

You got to the ball seeing that Elena was here with Damon and Stefan which didn't surprise you. Elijah was by your side in a flash kissing your hand glaring at men that stared too long at you.

"Hi Eli. This is alot of people."

"Yes it seems Niklaus went overboard." Elijah says rubbing your back sensing your nervousness. With encouragement and a few drinks both Rebekah and Elijah sent you to confess to Klaus.

"Hey Klaus.....can we talk?"

"Yes, what is it love?" Klaus asked after leading you to his art studio and you took a deep breath. Your heart was beating loudly as your hands trembled ready to tell Klaus how much you loved him, how all you think was him.

"Klaus....I.....I am whole heartily in love with you. I find myself wondering how I could fall for you only to love you more and I really hope you feel the same."

You breath ready for a kiss or him feeling the same maybe rejection but you weren't ready for him to laugh. Klaus looked at you as you flushed with embarrassment.

"No offense love but you are just one of Rebekah's little friends, Elijah's little human. A thing to pass the time. I don't love you." Klaus tells you as hot tears fell down your face as Klaus watched you seemly unbothered by your tears.

Klaus thought you were just around because you were with Elijah but having you confess your feelings for him. Klaus wasn't going to be with you as he adored Caroline after all Elijah could just pick up the pieces of your heart like the older Original had always done when a girl confessed to the hybrid.

"I don't want my brothers sloppy seconds." Klaus says as the words hit you right in the heart as you turned around picking up your dress running out.

"Darling?" Elijah questioned seeing you leaving the ball tears in your eyes your face red with embarrassment.

"Thanks for the invite....I'll be leaving call you later." You said voice raw with emotion as an unreadable look fell on Elijah's face as he let you leave. Elijah looked seeing Klaus with Caroline who was giggling at his jokes enjoying herself.

Elijah marched over looking like a man on a mission grabbing Klaus and dragging him off to talk not caring that Caroline was calling out for him to stop.

"What is wrong with you!' Elijah growled glaring at Klaus as he threw his younger brother in a chair as both Rebekah and Kol entered the room wondering what was wrong.

"Talking to Caroline is wrong now?"

"No but tell me why, Y/N had left crying?" Elijah said as Rebekah glared at Klaus while the hybrid roll his eyes at Elijah's dramatics.

"It this what you are angry about? If she couldn't handle my rejection then she shouldn't have confessed to me."

"So you decide to break her heart?! Niklaus can be you be any more cruel?!" Elijah said glaring angry with his brother as Rebekah left quickly went to check up on you. Klaus sighed looking at Elijah seeing the rage on his older face.

"What would you have wanted me to do? Lie to her?"

"No but could have let her down gently Nik." Kol said having over heard the whole thing when he was being snoopy.

"Well it has been done now if you excuse me. I need to get back to Caroline."

Your heart felt shattered and you hadn't left your house for a month as Elijah and Rebekah had been coming to see you. You decided to leave unable to face Klaus seeing him with Caroline as you couldn't help but wish you were her.

While a part of you was happy that Klaus was happy but the other part of you wished you had white oak to kill him.

"Now darling, you have my and Rebekah's number. Call if you ever need help."

"I will Eli." You said giving him a weak smile feeling him kiss your head then Rebekah pulled you into her arms hugging you tightly.

"Elijah and I put some money in your account so buy a lot of things for me."

"Okay Beka." You tell her getting one last hug from the blonde and a head kiss from Elijah before getting in your car leaving.

It didn't take Klaus long to notice you were gone along with Caroline which made Klaus wonder where you had gone. Caroline was worried as you were her baby sister but after hounding Rebekah for answers the vampire was upset that you leave over something so petty.

"Where is your little human?" Klaus asked Elijah who was reading a book you recomend him to read.

"She left town. Needed space from you and Caroline." Elijah answered not looking up from the book but he could tell Klaus was frowning.

"She needed space?"

"She loved you and you tore her apart Niklaus. And before ask I have no idea where she nor what she is doing."

Seven months you had been gone and Klaus found hisself missing you. The hybrid hadn't realized before but he really missed your laugh and bright smile that would light up a room. Klaus could help but noticing all the little things you did for him like clean up his studio, bringing him macarons when you learned he loved them.

Klaus noticed how you always went out of you way to make him happy, how you always invited him to join your movie nights with Rebekah. Then Klaus came to realize that everything he loved about Caroline was nothing compared to you as not once did you judged his family for things they done unlike Caroline, not once did you throw his actions back at him like Caroline had done. You had loved him unconditionally unlike Caroline and now you were gone.

"Y/N!" Klaus heard Rebekah squeal making him rush to see you standing there with Rebekah. You were smiling, your hair cut short dressed in a sundress with a white shirt underneath. But the one thing that caught his eye the most was the male vampire with you.

"Beka. Meet Lorenzo St. John but everyone calls him Enzo, my fiancee." You tell her as Klaus felt the air leave his lungs. Elijah came out smiling at Enzo who wrapped an arm around.

"Fiancee? When did this happen?"

"A month ago." You gushed as you went into a story on how you both met as Klaus walked in. The hybrid never noticed before but now he missed the adoring look you had for him.

"Hey Klaus." You say smiling at him as it hit him it didn't hold the same warmth it once had for now you were giving them to Enzo.

"Hello love."

Klaus was angry when Elijah suggested to have your in the garden of the Mikaelson home because Klaus didn't want to watch you marry another. When it came to the day Klaus decided to try to win your heart.

"You look gorgeous love." You heard Klaus say as he stepped in the room seeing you in a slim wedding dress that was long sleeved and tastefully low cut. You had train of lace that was your veil and he couldn't help but feel like he should be marrying you.

"Thank you. How are you and Caroline?"

"We broke up two months ago. I want to apologize for what I said and I realized that I love you." Klaus tells you as you stared at him when you heard the words you wanted to always heard from Klaus. Now you could leave Enzo and be with Klaus but the words he told you when you confessed rang in your thoughts.

You smoothed out your dress walking up to Klaus cupping his cheek watching him leaned into your touch. You almost felt cruel for what you about to do but you remember the pain he caused.

"Sorry Klaus, I don't want my sister's sloppy seconds." You said lowly walking passed him as Klaus felt a lone tear roll down his face while you went off to marry another.

[luna-writes-stuff]

@fairykimseok

Fictional crushes, Aidan Turner

Usually, I don’t write for cast members, but I am the biggest simp for Aidan Turner so I will make an exception because I love him with all my heart.

Headcanons, female s/o

Tw: Teasing???? Man idk?????

- You and Aidan had been together for quite a while, so it truly hadn’t come as a surprise when he asked you to come with him to the screening of ‘An Unexpected Journey’.

- You had always helped him rehearse his lines in any project and you had no problem with him not revealing certain key points in a movie. But when you heard he was playing in another Peter Jackson movie, you began growing more curious.

- You had already been familiar with the Lord of the Ring movies and knowing Aidan was now playing part in Tolkien’s legacy made you so proud, yet so snoopy. You wanted to know everything about the setting, the actors, the story line,,,,everything.

- So it had been difficult for Aidan to keep his mouth shut at times. But after this evening, he would no longer have to.

- The moment Aidan had appeared as Kili during the screening, you had grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly while pointing to his character. Aidan was so ecstatic upon seeing your reaction that he could not wait for you to see the rest of it.

- Yet, upon watching the rest of the movie, your responses grew more quiet, telling him you were no longer focusing on whatever was happening, but more particularly on someone. You always became quiet when you were looking at someone, whether that was in a good way or bad way.

- Truth be told, you had found Kili incredibly attractive. I mean, who wouldn’t? It hadn’t been the first time you fell in love with a fictional character, yet some part of you told you this was different as you were, in a way, dating Kili.

- But you could never tell Aidan that. He wouldn’t let you hear the end of it.

- But Aidan knew you better than he knew himself. You would make some small remarks during the screening, yet you always grew quiet when his character had a line or any form of screen time.

- At first, you managed to cover it up with a “I just want to properly see your bits in the movie.”, but as the movie came to an ending, Aidan quickly realized it had not been only about his acting; It had been about his character.

- He could keep his mouth shut for a while upon finding out, but the second the both of you were in the car away from the public, he burst out laughing.

- “I mean, I knew I was attractive, but I didn’t know it was that bad!”

- And then your entire face heated up. You knew there was no point in trying to hide it, but it did not make you any less ashamed.

- “Tell me, is it the hair?” He wondered with a smile, flashing you an amused look. “Shut up, Aidan.” “Or was it the beard?” “You’ve had that beard the entire time you were shooting.” “So it was the hair.”

- And from there on, the entirety of the car ride was filled with stupid comments, even if they were used lighthearted.

- “Are you Mister Boggins?” He tried with his best Kili imitation.

- “Shut your gob or I’ll do it for you.” “I’d gladly let you do it, but I don’t know if Kili would approve.”

- You bet your ass he’s never shaving that beard off again. He even tries growing out his hair. It started out as a teasing, but since he knew you liked his long hair, he made it his duty to grow it out.

- Only it didn’t work out so well. His hair wouldn’t grow that fast and he needed to keep it short enough so the wig would fit onto his head for the next movies.

- But it had been long enough to wear a stupid ponytail from time to time. A tiny one, but it counted nonetheless.

- He would constantly let his lines slip and whenever the two of you were rehearsing, Aidan would act all innocent and Kili-like (in the best way possible)

- “Are you trying to romance me?” “…….yeah…..” “it’s working.”

- And then the battle of the five armies happened. To say you were crushed would be an understatement. Of course Aidan would be there to comfort you, but he’s literally Kili so it doesn’t always work.

- It doesn’t stop him from maintaining his stubble. It’s attractive, lets face it. He knows it, you know it.

- He’ll keep it for you.

- There will be a annual rewatch of the hobbit series so you can simp for Kili again. Aidan would act all offended and cuddle up to you, trying to get your attention.

- Sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s Kili.

- He’s not the brightest, okay?

[sleepless-in-southlands]

Your Eyes are in the Sky (Mine are on You)

Ao3

Summary: In their line of work, the past was never truly the past, and neither Grian nor Mumbo were dumb enough to think otherwise. But typically moving a hundred towns over was enough to keep it at a fairly distant threat. That didn't mean it always felt like it. Content: AU- Mob Bosses, hurt/comfort; paranoia, codependency referenced/past blood/injury/violence, trust issues, protectiveness, homoromanticism, kissing, obligatory characters not CCs Ship: Ambiguous grumbo (which is to say they go ‘we’re just business partners’ and then act like they’re dating. idk man. they’re fruity as hell) Notes: Part three of Bloody Fruits au

~

    Grian knew he shouldn’t be here.

    Even in the right places, night in Heremita was never a time to be outside. The longer he remained out in the open, the higher the chance ran that someone- or someones- would appear out of the shadows and attack him.

    Not that he thought he would lose any fight that might present itself, especially at that moment, but still. He wasn’t necessarily looking for trouble.

    That was only part of his problem, however. The other half of it was that he was at Mumbo’s house rather than his own.

    He had tried to prevent it, he had. He had done his best to pretend like today was a normal day. He had urged Mumbo to leave the End Crystal early, get home in bright daylight rather than waning sunset or actual night. And then he had gone home too, telling himself it would be alright, that all he had to do was go to bed and meet Mumbo at work the next day like always.

    It didn’t work. Grian wished that was more surprising than it was.

    He hadn’t been able to go to bed, no amount of rationales able to calm the part of his mind that insisted Mumbo wasn’t safe, that his attempts to ignore the date were putting him in danger, that Mumbo was going to die this time and it would be all Grian’s fault.

    So here he was. Standing in front of Mumbo’s house, a well-kept secret location with a top-of-the-line security system Grian had worked on himself, a thousand miles away from their old town, trying to resist the need to go inside all while knowing that doing so eventually was unavoidable.

    A poorly placed trash can lid hit the ground with a clatter as a light breeze blew through, Grian nearly shooting it as it did. While he knew he didn’t show it, his pulse was jumping and his nerves were on a hair trigger. Staying outside any longer wasn’t an option. Even if he did think he could get to bed at this point, there was no way he’d be as lucky on the way back home as he had been coming here. He was out of time to delay the inevitable.

    Grian secured the perimeter of the house before entering, checking every dark corner and deceptive edge for anything or anyone out of place. Only after walking it twice did he go to the back door, aware that its hinges were better oiled than the front’s. He turned his key in the deadbolt as quietly as possible, and only opened the door as wide as absolutely necessary to slip inside.

    He disarmed and reset the security system before doing anything else, always up-to-date on its combo even as it changed daily. The control screen flashed green in confirmation before dimming, leaving Grian free to clear the house.

    Mumbo’s house wasn’t very large, luckily. The ground floor had an open floor plan between the kitchen, dining room, and living room, with the only separate rooms being an office space and bathroom. The upstairs was a short hallway leading into two bedrooms, another bathroom, and a spare room Mumbo mainly used for storage.

    Grian went through the office and bathroom first, the rooms small and sparse enough there wasn’t much place for anything to hide. He did his best to remain as quiet as possible as he shuffled through the papers on Mumbo’s home desk, looking for any sign of listening bugs or threats, but all he found were fake business forms, made as just-in-cases for snoopy neighbors or cops.

    When he returned to the main space, he started his check by ensuring he was the only person in the room, looking at and poking through every space that could possibly conceal an assailant. In the larger and more furnished area, there were more shadows cast across the floor, only just barely distinguished from the rest of the room’s darkness by the bit of moonlight that managed to slip in underneath Mumbo’s curtains. Their edges seemed to move even when Grian knew they couldn’t be, giving the impression that there was someone moving behind him. No matter how many times he turned around and found no one there, the shadows continued to move in his sight, as if taunting him and his search.

    Grian nearly flipped on a light after his fourth unnecessary back-check. He knew it wouldn’t help unless he could turn on every other light in the building as well, and even just one would likely attract unwanted attention to Mumbo’s house. But just like he knew there was no one behind him, just like he knew there was no one else in the house with him but its owner, the logic of not turning on the lights did little to reassure him.

    He forced himself to finish his person search, having already repeated it twice due to the shadows’ mockery. He kept his time in the kitchen area to a minimum, not touching anything as he did a visual scan before moving on.

    Part of him wanted to do more, to check every pantry and box and bag, to inspect every morsel of food or spec of seasoning on the microscopic level. Most of him did, to be accurate.

    But if so much as a grain of salt was misplaced, Grian knew Mumbo would notice, and he couldn’t do that to Mumbo. He trusted that if anything was wrong with the food, Mumbo would realize it even faster than Grian could. That if there was any part of Mumbo’s house Grian could do a lax check of, it would be the kitchen.

    So he moved onto the mix of dining and living room, checking every spot he could think of for a bug, a camera, a warning note- any sign of an unfriendly presence. The shadows still seemed to sway about him as he worked, but he ignored them, muttering under his breath how he knew there was no one there instead as if he could convince himself on the matter.

    Grian was still muttering to himself when he heard something- the slightest creak of the house, the way a noisy floorboard sounds when weight is applied to it, a sound that couldn’t have come from him as he stood stationary at Mumbo’s dinner table. He froze, silencing himself as he listened for another creak, for proof the first wasn’t just a product of his imagination running a hundred miles an hour.

    For a long minute, there was nothing. Long enough that Grian was about to go back to his searching and write it off as nothing. But then there came a second squeak, this one the tiniest bit louder. Closer.

    Grian spun on his heel, raising his gun in the same motion. He aimed for the approximate location of the unknown person based on what he had heard, finger at ready on the trigger.

    Only to nearly drop the gun when he realized he had it pointed directly at Mumbo.

    In later hindsight, it would be obvious to Grian that it had been Mumbo he had heard approaching. Who else would know the house well enough to make it to the stairs without stepping on more than two loud spots? Who else would have been upstairs when there was no sign of forced entry on the ground level? Who was simply the most likely person to be in the house?

    But in the moment, searching for enemies and traps in the dark, Mumbo was the last person Grian would have thought was approaching him.

    Realizing his intruder was Grian, Mumbo lowered his gun as well, relaxing slightly. Even though Grian had seen him in outfits outside of his work suit plenty, there was always something slightly off about it. Even with his weapon still held tight in hand, in a loose shirt and sweats, Mumbo didn’t look like a criminal, much less one of the most powerful mob bosses in town. He just looked like a civilian. He just looked tired.

    “Guess I should’ve known it’d be you.” Mumbo said lightly, teasingly, as he came the rest of the way down the stairs. His steps were still near silent as he went, muscle memory walking the quietest path for him.

    “Mu-” Grian started to respond, cutting himself off before he could even finish Mumbo’s name. Nothing had changed in the area around him aside from Mumbo joining him, nothing to suggest there was suddenly a danger right nearby, but an alarm bell still went off in his head at the name.

    What if there’s someone listening? What if there’s someone who doesn’t know it’s Mumbo here? What if you say his name and give it away?

    It was irrational, Grian knew that. He had no proof anyone was listening. And even if someone was, they would surely already know who they were listening to. No one decides to eavesdrop on a random house for no reason. They wouldn’t even get Mumbo’s full name, or anything incriminating. Nothing would happen. It would be fine.

    But the logic didn’t click, the alarm bell still ringing, the word caught in his throat as he gave up on trying to say it. Instead, he fell back on what even his mind could accept as a ‘safe’ response.

    “My Keeper,” Grian began successfully, Mumbo’s expression changing to one of concern at the codename, “I apologize, I- I didn’t mean to come.”

    To anyone else, the sentence wouldn’t have made any sense. But Mumbo understood. He always did.

    “You never have to apologize for this, my Watcher.” Mumbo replied, giving the room a quick glance-around. “I assume you want to finish searching the premises?”

    “...Yes.”

    Mumbo reached forward slowly, giving Grian a chance to step back. Grian didn’t, and Mumbo’s hand cupped Grian’s cheek. It was warm. Not clammy, not pale, not sticky with barely dried blood. Just warm.

    Grian raised a hand to rest over Mumbo’s and allowed himself a single moment to pause and relish the warmth.

    “Alright.” Mumbo said softly in a way that had nothing to do with the fact he was whispering. “I’m going to get some water.”

    And then Mumbo stepped away, going to open one of his cabinets, because when he said I’m going to get some water he meant I’ll go check the food, because I know, for my sake, you won’t, even though you think you have to, and I want you to sleep tonight, and these little things I can always do for you, and Grian knew that today being a special day didn’t make this particular dance any less familiar for the two of them.

    So he left Mumbo to the kitchen as he finished going through the dining and living area and moved on to the upstairs, checking each step for tripwires as he climbed. He searched each room the same as he had the ground floor ones, but there was nothing out of place to be found in any of them, save the unmade bed in Mumbo’s room and the open drawer he kept his gun in.

    By the time he had come back downstairs, Mumbo had finished up in the kitchen and was sitting on his couch. His gun was set in front of him on the coffee table as he pointlessly combed his fingers through his bedhead. Once again Grian was struck by how nearly-normal it all looked, as if Mumbo was only two steps away from truly being some boring, law-abiding citizen who paid taxes and ate his food without double-checking every ingredient.

    Grian, caught up in his own thoughts, ended up lingering on the stairs too long, only realizing it when Mumbo looked towards him with a frown. “Is something wrong, my Watcher?”

    “No,” Grian replied, stepping down the last few stairs before walking over to Mumbo, “it’s just us here.”

    “Good.” Mumbo tilted his head up to keep his eyes on Grian’s face, frown lessening but still present. “What do you want to do now?”

    “I…” Grian hesitated, holding Mumbo’s gaze for a few seconds too long before he glanced away, “I should go home.”

    Grian flinched when Mumbo took hold of one of his hands, the near imperceptible reaction the result of shock. Mumbo still waited a beat to give Grian a chance to pull his hand away before he linked their fingers together. Always double checking. Just in case.

    “I didn’t ask what you should do.” Mumbo murmured, lightly squeezing Grian’s hand. “I asked you what you wanted.”

    Grian squeezed back. “You’re… safe.”

    “I am.” Mumbo confirmed. “But that doesn’t mean you have to go.”

    When another minute passed with Grian still standing, looking away, seemingly tethered to his spot only by his fingers intertwined with Mumbo’s, Mumbo gently tugged Grian to face him. Once more face-to-face, Mumbo again reached out to cup Grian’s cheek, touch light yet still so present to Grian.

    “My Watcher,” Mumbo started, and even if there were a dozen listening bugs in the room Grian couldn’t imagine anyone other than him being able to hear his words in that exact moment, “what do you want?”

    “To stay. To make sure you’re safe, my Keeper.” In any other circumstance, with any other person, Grian might have been ashamed at how fast he gave in to admitting that particular truth, in the way he had let it show there was anything wrong at all. Weakness was dangerous, after all. You didn’t need a past like Grian’s to have that one figured out.

    But this was Mumbo. Mumbo, the most dangerous person Grian knew. Mumbo, the only person who had never been and never would be a threat to him.

    Mumbo who he allowed to lightly tug him down onto the couch with him, still cupping his cheek even as Grian let himself slump forward, his forehead coming to rest against Mumbo’s.

    “Then you’ll stay.” Mumbo told him, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

    And right then, in the dark living room of a house originally built for normal people with normal lives and normal fears, Grian huddled close enough to Mumbo he could feel his breath as it tickled his chin, somehow, it was.

~

    All things considered, Grian wasn’t too surprised he had slept in.

    Normally, he was an early riser, with or without an alarm clock on hand. The more hours of the day he spent being at the ready for something to go wrong meant more hours of the day that had a better chance of everything going right.

    But the night before had been… taxing, to say the least. The whole day had been. Even if he had managed to fall asleep at home, he likely would’ve slept in at least a little bit.

    Judging by how much sunlight was streaming in through the gaps of Mumbo’s curtains, Grian was guessing he had gone somewhat past ‘a little bit’ of sleeping in. Falling asleep with Mumbo tended to have that effect on him.

    Taking a lazy account of his surroundings, Grian realized he was no longer the one resting on the edge of the couch. Instead, Mumbo had taken over that position, leaving his own back vulnerable while Grian was more safely tucked between him and the couch.

    There wasn’t enough space on the couch for that to have occurred naturally, Grian knew. At some point in the night or early morning Mumbo must have woken up and shifted them around himself, as if he was the right-hand, as if he was the one who had broken into Grian’s house unable to sleep without knowing for a fact that the other was safe and alive.

    Also not very surprising.

    Regardless of his being up earlier, Mumbo was asleep now, one arm draped loosely over Grian’s side and their faces still close. His bedhead had only gotten worse, and Grian found himself still too tired to not run his fingers through it, as if that would fix it at all.

    Although, Grian reflected as Mumbo leaned into the action, sleepily smiling even before he blinked his eyes open, he didn’t think he’d done it because he was tired. He didn’t feel particularly tired. No, no this was something softer. Safer.

    “Good morning.” Mumbo said quietly, the edges of his words slurred with the remnants of sleep. “How are you feeling?”

    “Better.” Grian answered truthfully. In the light of day, with everything where it had been left the night before, and Mumbo healthy and breathing against him, it was much easier to believe the idea that no one was stalking them or waiting to spring from the shadows. “I’m sorry for last night. Thought I’d be fine.”

    “I already told you you don’t have to apologize.” Mumbo reminded him, idly brushing his hand up and down Grian’s back. “If anything, I’m the one who should be saying sorry. I knew what yesterday was for you, I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

    “‘For me’? Mumbo, you’re the one who nearly died then, it’s hardly-” Grian realized his error a second too late, chest tightening at his own blunt statement of the facts. His hand in Mumbo’s hair went still as he focused instead on trying to get another full breath in, pressing his eyes shut as he desperately tried to block out the memories of Mumbo, injured, bloody, dying on his doorstep.

    Mumbo’s hand on his back pulled away, gone for barely a second before Grian felt it coming to take his own. Mumbo guided Grian’s hand out of his hair, pulling it up under the hem of his shirt instead so that he could rest Grian’s hand directly over Mumbo’s heart.

    Grian immediately pressed his hand against the spot, likely a bit harder than he should have. The difference in the feel of the scarred skin from the rest had become less distinct as time went on, but Grian would always be able to feel it, could trace out the shape by memory alone. At times, there was no comfort to be found for Grian in the scars, the rough skin only a cruel reminder of his failure to keep Mumbo safe when he was most needed.

    But right then, there was only relief to be found in the feeling of healed skin, dry and warm, the beat of the heart right beneath strong and stable and alive.

    “It wasn’t a good day for either of us,” Mumbo said in what might have been the largest understatement of all time, “but we got through it. I’m alive. I’m okay. We’re okay.”

    “We’re okay.” Grian echoed, eyes still closed as he gave himself a few minutes to just breathe. Mumbo didn’t try to rush him, leaving his hand layered over Grian’s as he began to lightly press kisses against the top of Grian’s head, each motion a soft reminder that he was here, that he was okay, that Grian hadn’t failed him.

    By the time Grian opened his eyes, his head had become somewhat tucked beneath Mumbo’s, chin against his shoulder. It was the perfect position in which to return Mumbo’s affections, trailing a few kisses down his neck for no good reason other than the fact that he could.

    “Good now?” Mumbo asked, sounding amused, likely already knowing the answer to his own question.

    “Yeah.” Grian replied anyway, reluctantly pulling back so that he could see Mumbo’s face once more.

    “Good.” Mumbo leaned in as if to kiss Grian’s cheek. Before he could, Grian tilted his head, catching Mumbo’s lips with his own and returning the kiss instead.

    “Doing even better than good, it seems.” Mumbo teased when he pulled away a minute later, laughing when Grian’s only response was to try and kiss him again. “You know we have things to get to eventually?”

    “I doubt they’re that important.”

    “Oh, no, they’re just silly things like eating, going to work.”

    Grian frowned. “Well they’re not nearly as fun.”

    “No, I suppose not.” Mumbo attempted to sit up, huffing another laugh when Grian tugged him back down. “Listen, if it means you’ll actually let me get up, you can make lunch whatever you want. And I’m sure we can find something to do at the Crystal. It’s not exactly a boring office job, after all. But we do have to get up.”

    Grian sat up then, Mumbo rolling his eyes at what he likely saw as some sort of unfair double standard on who was allowed to sit up. “You want me to make lunch?”

    “Yes.”

    “But yesterday-”

    “-was a long time ago.” Mumbo finished for him, using Grian’s momentary distraction to both sit up and successfully kiss his cheek. “I trust you, Grian, with everything. No matter what day of the year it is.”

    “...You really are a sap.” Grian said after a pause a bit too long to make his words entirely believable. “But alright, I’ll make lunch. Even though your kitchen is a special type of crime scene. And I still don’t want to go in to work.”

    “Good thing you have experience with that sort of thing, then.” Mumbo joked, looking up while he stretched his arms over his head. “Regarding work, we could always see if Scar would want to come over.”

    Grian raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do I get out of your boyfriend coming over?”

    “I know how you two like to banter.” Mumbo stated. “Besides, it might help having someone to chat with who doesn’t know about yesterday, don’t you think?”

    “I suppose so.” Grian conceded before sighing. “But you know how he is about… us. If I’m standing so much as an inch closer to you he’ll have something witty to say about it.”

    Mumbo glanced over at Grian with a smirk. “Well then, we’ll just have to get it all out during lunch, won’t we?”

    Grian returned his sly smile. “Oh, we must.”

    Mumbo’s smile widened at the reply, letting his arms drop back down so that he could rest his hands on Grian’s hips, turning to better face him as Grian cupped Mumbo’s cheek and pulled him closer.

    And for a brief moment, it was almost like they were normal, boring, taxes-paying people.

    Safe people.

    Happy people.

[otonymous]

A Bolt From The Blue (MLQC Shaw - NSFW) - Part III: Near & Far

Description: Promising beginnings and a premature end throw you into a tailspin Warnings: NSFW/18+: Explicit/graphic language & mature themes — reader discretion is advised.  Potential trigger warnings: depictions of mild PTSD symptoms, mentions of death of a close family member, disappearances, “breakups,” angst, profanity Word Count: 1882 words (~9 mins of falling in love and wallowing in angst 😱😂) Author’s Notes: If you’re still following this story, please accept a giant (virtual) hug from me to you!  Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and this piece of work! 💖 Without further ado, I present to you part 3 of my slow-burn Shaw fic, written for the lovely @op-peccatori​ as part of my follower milestone celebration.

As always, dear reader, please note the potential trigger warnings listed above, and happy reading! 😊

Jump to Chapter(s): One | Two | Four

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“You can relax, you know.  I won’t try anything funny while you sleep, not my style.  Besides, isn’t this much better than camping out on the floor?”

Nodding your head before you realize that Shaw probably couldn’t see you in the dark, your “Yes” comes out in a mewl so pathetic you wished you could immediately take it back.

His snicker shakes the bed, reverberating across squeaky springs to where you lay beside him, right at the edge of the twin mattress as you tried not to let your hands touch.

No matter how much you wished for them to.

Beyond the window, a neon signboard paints electric shadows on your walls in splashes of pink, flashing in time to a rhythm Shaw tapped out with one foot beneath the covers.

“Is it cool if…if we didn’t draw the blinds tonight?  I can’t sleep in complete darkness.” He had asked you earlier that evening, towelling off his hair as he emerged from your bathroom wearing a shirt your ex had left behind along with your broken heart a year and a half ago.

Snoopy looked much better riding his skateboard across Shaw’s broad chest anyways.

And there, in the midst of an awkward arrangement where sleep would surely prove fleeting, the sounds of the night: the low hum of the refrigerator, the pawn shop’s sign buzzing just on the other side of the windowpane…the tick-tock of the clock on the wall, steady like Shaw’s breath beside you as it counts down precious time—

“I’ll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow morning.”  

Ba-bump.

“No, there’s…there’s no rush.  Honestly.”

“Can you really afford to miss more work because of me?”

Silence.  You couldn’t refute the truth.

“Tell you what, in exchange for putting up with me, you can ask me anything you want.  I’ve seen the way you look at me sometimes; surely you must be curious about some things.  Might as well find out before I go.”

Your stomach knotted, clenching tight.  He was right.  For all you know, it was now or never.  “Why did you join?  The triad, that is.”

He is silent for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to piece together.

“I’m looking for my brother.”

Out of all possible answers, this wasn’t one you were expecting.  Turning onto your side, you study the handsome profile of his face — watching as pink mixed with lavender in the most ethereal way until you were overcome with the sense that in this vast ocean of life, you and him stood on very different shores.  Eyes still fixed on your ceiling, Shaw continues.

“He was an undercover cop, working to infiltrate the ranks of the group I’m currently a part of.  I only found out by accident, and he made me swear up and down not to breathe a word of it to mom.  Then one day…he was gone.  Just...disappeared off the face of the earth.  Mom and I went down to the station every day for months, knew the names and faces of everyone who worked in that building, but it was like Gavin never even existed.

“It was too much for her.  I came home late from school one day — found her on the floor, barely breathing.  It was dark in the apartment…so dark.  She had probably just drawn the curtains.  By the time the paramedics arrived, she was already gone.  Heart attack, they said.  

“I lie awake at night sometimes, wonder how I’m going to tell him that mom’s no longer here — go through the motions in my head, rehearsing every line.  ‘Cus I know that sooner or later, that day will come.  There’s no way he’s dead.  I know my brother.”

A glimmer at the corner of his eye catches yours.  Beneath the covers, your fingers inch towards his, finding courage in the darkness to brush against his pinky as if the sliver of warmth could express what words simply couldn’t convey.

“With mom gone, there was nothing to lose.  I joined the group, worked hard…did what they needed me to do to gain their trust, all while collecting scraps of info here and there — whatever I could get my hands on in the hopes that it’ll lead me to Gav.”

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

Tiny drops of rain speckle your windowpane.  And when Shaw’s finger hooks around yours as if in a solemn pinky swear, the tears burning your eyes finally fall.  You don’t ask him how many years it’s been, the dirty deeds he’s had to sully his hands with.  You don’t question him about the father he doesn’t mention.  All you can do is watch as a solitary drop rolls down the side of his face before soaking into lavender strands fanned out on the pillow, the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows back bitterness only he knew.

In spite of it all, he is the one who chuckles when he turns towards you, eyes red rimmed even as his brows rise in feigned exasperation when he says, “Why are you crying?!  I’m the one with the tragic past here!”

And when you start to cry even harder, his soft hushes of “Shh, shh…I’m sorry, that last part was a joke.  It’s all right, everything will be okay, I promise,” burrows deep into your heart and you believe him.

Because when he reaches towards you — the thumb wiping the tears from your eyes calloused yet gentle — you are struck by a sense of overwhelming tenderness:

In the carefulness of his touch.

In the way he regards you with the sincerity of some unspoken emotion.

In the entirety of this man whom the rest of the world has already written off.

And that is when you know…

“I didn’t mean to make you cry by telling you all this, I’m sorry.”

…that you are in love with him.

“I’ll make it up to you.  Ask me another question.  Maybe something less depressing this time.”  

A smile spreads across his face.  You wished there was a way for you to keep the warmth of his hand on your cheek forever.  Sniffling, you try again.

“Wh-why did you keep coming in to my store everyday?  There’s a lot of other convenience stores in the area—”

A flash of panic in those amber eyes, and Shaw is turning over with lightning speed until all you can see is the smooth expanse of his back.

“Changed my mind.  A guy’s gotta keep some secrets!  Goodnight!”

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?”

Wrap your arms around the pillow.

“Good girls shouldn’t concern themselves with bad boys.”

Bury your face into its cushiony fill.

“Or have you forgotten that I’m wanted by the police?”

And inhale deeply.

Shaw’s scent on your sheets is faint now, so much so that you can’t be entirely sure you’re not imagining it, having gone through this ritual countless times since the day Shaw left your apartment…

…and stepped out of your life.

                   *                                         *                                          *

“Is there…any way I could stay in touch with you?  I-I just…just want to make sure you’re okay…”

Voice trailing off, you watch as Shaw gingerly shrugs one arm then another through the sleeves of his leather jacket, still wearing the Snoopy t-shirt he had slept in the night before after you told him he could keep it.  His own was torn beyond repair, stubbornly dyed in blood regardless of how much you scrubbed at it.  And when he hesitated still, you said he would just be doing you the favour of taking out the trash.  

Smoothing down the front of his jacket, Shaw glances at the phone in your hands — eyes tracing along your eager fingers, poised to type.  The expression on his face is unreadable, as if the man you had spent the night sharing secrets with was nothing more than a figment of your imagination.

“It’s better if we don’t.  I’ll be fine, just laying low for the next while — boss’s orders.  And I don’t want the cops coming around to your place again.  Detective Whatshisname looks like he could be really good at hounding pretty girls like you.”

That smirk again, so familiar to you by now.  And in the compliment that would’ve made you blush bright red before, nothing but a smokescreen.

“Shaw, I don’t mind—”

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?" The force in his voice cuts, and you barely breathe to feel his finger curl beneath your chin, tilting up your face until you have no choice but to meet his gaze.  Those eyes are dull, like molten gold frozen beneath a layer of impenetrable ice.  “Good girls shouldn’t concern themselves with bad boys.  Or have you forgotten that I’m wanted by the police?”

The shiver that runs electric down your spine makes the hairs on your skin stand on end.  It was like looking at a stranger.  Heart racing, your palms grow clammy with sweat, unsure of exactly when your phone had dropped from your hands, slipping away like…

“I don’t care about the cops!  I’ll deal with them—”

“DEAL WITH WHAT?!  You think that just because you managed to turn them away at the door that it makes you a hardened criminal?!  WE are not the same, okay?  My life is worthless.  I’ve already signed it away a long time ago, I’m ready to give it up without a second thought.  But you…you’re different. Y-you’re kind, innocent.  You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.  One day, you’ll make someone the luckiest person in the world, be a beautiful mother to beautiful children.  Don’t sell yourself short…not for someone like me.”

The silence that descends is thick, suffocating.  You don’t speak, afraid to open your mouth because it takes all your concentration just to keep the tears from spilling from your eyes.

Finally letting go of your chin, Shaw reaches behind his neck to undo the clasp on the thin gold chain he wore, the jade disc pendant that hung from it still warm from the heat of his skin when he places it in the palm of your hand.

“It’s not much, but it was a gift from my mom and the most valuable thing I own.  You saved my life, so it’s yours now.  Maybe…maybe one day, you can give it to your own child.”

Lump in your throat, you can barely breathe, let alone tell him there was no way you could accept something that precious, something that priceless.  That you didn’t drag him home that night, broken and bleeding, in the hopes of gain; not for money, not for love.

He curls your fingers around the heirloom, gentle thumb pressing on index, middle, ring then pinky in turn before your fist finds itself held tightly within the press of his much larger hand for one…two…three seconds…

…before those purple Chuck Taylors take him to your door…

Slam.

…and just like that, the man with the lavender hair is gone.

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Forgive me for trolling, but there really was only one bed LOL!  Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter, and please stay tuned for what may be the final instalment in this Shaw saga! - XOXO

Jump to Chapter(s): One | Two | Four

Thanks so much for reading! 💕 Check out more of my work here! 📚(Please do not repost/copy/alter my work.  Reblogs, on the other hand, are a-ok and much appreciated! 👍🏼💖)

[trashyswitch]

The Adorable Slimy Stranger

Chapter 2: Holidays With The Sides (& Pumpkin!)

The sides are nearing Christmas, and are getting ready to celebrate and share the joy with their new companion, Pumpkin!

This fanfic was suggested by an anonymous user! Thank you for the prompt for a sequel!

And this fanfic is also dedicated to Pumpkinpaw! Love you sweety!

Pumpkin had become a regular household companion within the next few weeks. When deciding what pronouns to use, the sides had put down papers that said ‘Boy’, ‘Girl’, and ‘both’, to mean they/them.

“Do you wanna be a girl? As in, a good girl?” Patton asked, pointing to the pink card.

“Or perhaps a boy? A good boy?” Logan offered, pointing to the blue card.

“Or maybe you wanna be both! Maybe ‘buddy’, or ‘good pumpa’?” Roman asked, holding up the purple card.

Patton gasped. “That’s such a cute nickname! Pumpa! I love it!” Patton cheered, hugging Roman.

Pumpkin looked at the three cards curiously for a few seconds. Right as someone was gonna speak up, Pumpkin picked up the pink card, pointed to it and tried to gurgle the word ‘girl’ as best as it could!

Patton and Roman both squealed excitedly, while Logan smiled proudly. “Girl it is. Pumpkin shall now be referred to as a female, until she shows us otherwise.” Logan declared.

“I’m still gonna call her lil’ pumpa tho! It’s perfect!” Patton added, giving Pumpkin a big hug.

“And she has at least 1 new nickname.” Logan muttered proudly with a chuckle.

To make things greater, it was nearing Christmas and EVERYONE was getting into the christmas mood!

Patton has been watching all the Hallmark movies and decorating the house with all the tinsel and lights he could summon. He also took time to hang up the advent calendars and had an elf hat on his head every second of the day!

Logan has been drinking out of christmas mugs, determining the holiday board games they could play together, and has been listening to different christmas music covers to determine the most beautiful and/or most classic versions. Using that knowledge, Logan successfully came up with the most christmassy playlist he could make, which also included songs from classic christmas films! And let’s not forget Bing Crosby and Pentatonix!

Roman has been singing christmas carols himself and wrapping up endless amounts of presents to fill the bottom of the christmas tree. He’s also spent lots of time making ornaments to add to the tree and was even sewing up adorable christmas outfits for Patton and himself! Remus even got an early Christmas outfit, which included a ‘King of Naughty’ original Grinch shirt.

Meanwhile, Virgil has been enjoying the heck outta the christmas sweaters that came out each year. This year? Thomas’s brand new Virgil-themed sweater merchandise Thomas came out with! Well...minus the scarf. Virgil found the scarf to be too much with the sweater. So, he gave it to Patton. Virgil has also been enjoying the holiday slippers! This year, Virgil was sporting a pair of hilarious shark slippers! Sometimes, Virgil would joke that ‘The sharks are hungry for feet!’

Janus has been enjoying watching the christmas baking shows and has been playing lots of christmas flash games that are always around. Super Santa Kicker, Christmas Race, Christmas Shopper Simulator (10/10, Best game of 2014!), Tattletail, Santa’s Rampage, even that crappy christmas wii game called ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’! All of those games were common-place.

Last but not least, Remus has been doing the elf on the shelf this year (with a small list of rules, of course.) and has been surprising people with singing and dancing christmas decorations everywhere! There was the animated singing rudolph, the twerking Santa Claus toy (Yup...Of course…), the singing and jingling christmas hat, that cringey but funny dancing/singing poop toy, an animated dancing tree, the animated singing santa in the bathtub, and everyone’s personal favorite: The Snoopy dancing plush toy that wobbles back and forth!

But everyone found that Pumpkin was ALSO in the christmas mood! The sides enjoyed seeing her reactions to the dancing toys the best, and even danced along with the toys sometimes! She waddled along with snoopy, danced left and right with the dancing tree, and sang to the Rudolph song while Rudolph sang the classic song!

Meanwhile, Patton had sewed up a christmas hat for Pumpkin. The hat had a more burgundy red color, a traditional white bottom and a white pom pom on the top. When Patton first gave it to the orange blob, Pumpkin placed it on her own head and let the pompom flop onto her face. Upon seeing the pompom, it looked as if her eyes could’ve dilated and she started playing with the pompom like a kitty. That was the best reaction they could’ve gotten from her!

One of the days, Pumpkin was sitting in the living room with the sides, watching The Polar Express on TV. This was a holiday classic that the sides loved to watch together. So joining Pumpkin in on the fun was a must! The train had just been saved from falling into the ice, and the train climbed up the spiral to the high road to the north pole. Pumpkin had slid herself over to Roman and Patton, and snuggled under the extra blanket that was beside the boys. Pumpkin was also wearing her santa hat!

Watching the pretty lights in the sky over the sea, Pumpkin watched curiously as the big conductor man talked to them about them and then uttered the following words: “There...is the north POLE!”

Pumpkin ran as quickly as her body could to the TV and reached up to the north pole on the TV. She backed up a little and held her hands on her chin as the train approached the Santa Village and The Polar Express song started playing! The song was so quick and fun, and it didn’t take long for Pumpkin to start bouncing up and down to the song while she watched the camera move under the twisting train road arches.

“Oooooo!” Pumpkin reacted to seeing the Santa city for the first time.

Patton’s heart was all warm and gushing at Pumpkin’s reactions. Roman was visibly excited about the village as well!

The christmas spirit went uphill from there. Pumpkin learned about the big old man in red known as Santa and his big bag of toys, his deers with horns, and about the big man’s magical powers! He especially loved the amount of joy that filled the sides when they talked about the man wearing red. Whoever this red-coated man was, made the sides so happy! Almost as happy as she makes them! And not only that, but the man in the red suit had a hat just like she did! She was bouncing around and clapping about that!

But excitement soon turned into disappointment when she found out she had to wait for the man in the red suit to come. She didn’t want to wait for the happy old man to come! She wanted to see him now! NOW! She whimpered and paced around the house as she struggled to wait for the old man to come. So while they waited, Logan grabbed a paper and some crayons and let Pumpkin draw a picture for Santa. While that happened, Logan wrote a short christmas letter out for her which read:

[Dear Santa Claus;

Hi Santa! My name is Pumpkin! I just found out about you and the elves in the north pole, and really wanted to see you! I’m sad that I have to wait for you to come, but I’ll try to find fun things to do while I wait for you. For Christmas, I would like lots of candy! Candy is so yummy! And skittles are my favorite! I also love Patton’s crunchy gingerbread cookies! That day, I discovered icing! And it made me bounce off the walls! I would also like for everyone to be extra happy this Christmas. I’m making people happy everyday, but now I can let you make everyone happy too.

Love; Pumpkin! ]

Logan put the letter down, and looked at the picture Pumpkin drew. It was a picture of herself tickling Santa Claus’s belly. Logan couldn’t help but giggle at how Santa’s belly in the picture made him look like he was pregnant. He also giggled at the big smile that was all spread out on Santa’s face. Logan praised her on a drawing well done, and decided to add something to the letter:

[P.S: Your belly looks very big and ticklish!]

Logan grabbed the drawing Pumpkin made, photocopied it, and put the copied version of the drawing in the envelope along with the letter. With everything ready, Logan sealed it shut. “There. Off to the North Pole!” Logan declared to Pumpkin!

Logan mailed it off in the post office a day later.

With Christmas on its way and Pumpkin stuck in a bit of an antsy wait for the magic, Pumpkin started to tickle people a little more often than usual. Any other time of the year, Pumpkin would tickle at least 1 person a day. But with Christmas around the corner and Pumpkin growing hyper, Pumpkin had started tickling all the sides at least once a day! So her tickle attacks jumped from 1 or 2, to 6 every single day!

“NAHAHAHAHAHA! PUHUHUMPKIHIHIHIHIN! NAHAHAHAT MYHYHY AHAHARMPIHIHITS! TOHOHOHOO TIHIHIHICKLIHIHIHISH!” Roman laughed hysterically!

Pumpkin tilted her head curiously, and chose to remove her pods from the armpits like he begged. Roman quickly tried to gain back his breath, but Pumpkin still wanted to hear laughter! So, she made her pod super thin like a pencil and dipped it into his belly button.

“aAAAAEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE! *snort* HAHAHAHAHAHA! *snort* NOHOHOHO FAHAHAHAHAHAIR!” Roman yelled through his laughter.

Pumpkin playfully stuck her tongue out at him and started to playfully nibble and ripple her blob-like body all over his belly.

Roman’s snorts grew more frequent and his laughter turned cackle-like. It was so ticklish! He was struggling to properly breath! But it was so fun! Roman had been tickled many, many, MANY times by Patton in the past. But THIS!

Holy cow!

Patton’s tickling was NOTHING compared to this!

Pumpkin decided to give him another ticklish, jiggly raspberry to get him squealing. And squealing, she was rewarded! Roman squealed so loud and so high-pitched, that Pumpkin stopped immediately just to process the strange sound!

Roman was a laughing, snorting mess after the squeal. And Pumpkin was loving every millisecond of it. As much as she was enjoying it however, Pumpkin knew when to give the man a long, giggly break. This would involve cuddling her ticklish victim and gently tickling a much less ticklish spot on their body to keep them giggling, but also let them breathe. For Roman, this was his neck.

“Ohohohohohokahahahahahay. Thahahahank yohohohou Puhuhumpkihin!” Roman told her.

Pumpkin smiled and gave his neck a tickly kiss on the neck. Roman giggled more from that, and calmed down the moment her ‘lips’ moved away from his neck. Pumpkin kept up her giggly tickling for a little bit longer before she went for Janus next.

Now, Pumpkin didn’t quite know Janus nearly as much as she knew the rest of the sides. She had even grown to know Remus quicker, than compared to Janus! The half man half snake in yellow, was more mysterious and...preferred his lonely time. So, she gave him his lonely time for the most part. She did come around to see if he was up for a tickle or two, but often walked away empty-handed, yet gaining some progress.

Finally, after weeks and weeks of trying, Pumpkin finally gained the courage to tickle Janus for the first time. She walked up to Janus’s side very quietly...geeently snuck her pod hand under the snake man’s shirt...and gave it a quick tickle.

“eeEEP! WHAT-” Janus turned around and immediately calmed down. Pumpkin made a surprised yip sound, and backed up a little to give him space. “Hi Pumpkin. Sorry about that. I...totally heard you come in.” Janus told her.

...Oh yeah...and then there was the strange way he talked to her and the other sides. He said things backwards. Like just now: if he actually heard her come in, then why was he so surprised and jumpy?

Things like that didn’t make sense to her. But what did make sense, was his calming face. “You tried to tickle me today. You...finally tried and tickled me. And it worked.” Janus told her.

Pumpkin didn’t really know what to do. She was confused. Was anything he was saying, supposed to be backwards? Or normal? Pumpkin couldn’t tell. But all that thinking went right out the window when Janus held his arms out for her. He wanted a hug from her! There was no saying no to THAT! Pumpkin quickly slid up to him and hugged him tightly.

“Wow! You have a very snug and firm hug for a jello being.” Janus admitted.

Jello? Like that blue jiggly stuff that Logan made once?

Pumpkin let him enjoy the hug for a bit. She wanted him to feel safe in her grasp. And perhaps, she may not get any tickles in today. But the only thing that mattered now, is that Janus could be hugged now.

“...Aren’t you gonna tickle me more?” Janus asked.

Pumpkin widened her black eyes. Wait, REALLY?! HE WAS GONNA LET HER TICKLE HIM?! This was what she was waiting for! 16 days of working up to this! And now, she can tickle him!

Pumpkin happily started skittering her pods all over his sides and ribs almost immediately! “Ohoho bohohoy! Hehehere wehehe gohohohoho!” Janus giggled and let go of her so she could get more access to more exposed ticklish spots. Pumpkin happily took the offer and made more pseudopods so she could tickle more spots at once. This was like a special attack that Pumpkin would pull on someone. “aaAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOHOHOU’RE SURPRIHIHISIHIHINGLY GOHOHOOD AHAHAT THIHIHIHIS!” Janus reacted in surprise.

Pumpkin gurgled happily to Janus and continued to tickle Janus wherever she could reach. The upside to having such a jiggly form, was just how well she could kneed the soft spots on her humans! This included the sides and his belly the most. Janus held his fists against his chest as his giggle fits, squeals and laughter filled his bedroom.

Pumpkin absolutely loved his laugh! It was much more bubbly and higher than she expected! It was such an amazing laugh, that Pumpkin chose to give him jiggly raspberries as well! He seemed like the kind of human that would love them! Pumpkin blew a raspberry on his sensitive belly and let her blobby, jello-like body flubber and jiggle to increase the ticklish sensation.

Janus fell into long fits of cackles! He couldn’t stop cackling! Now that he had reached the cackle-stage, there was just no going back! His laughter somewhat reminded Pumpkin of Patton’s laughter: bubbly, childish, and the musical representation of happiness. Though Janus’s wasn’t exactly like his, it was close enough.

“OHOHOKAHAHAHAY! CAHAHAN IHIHIHI HAHAHAVE AHA BREHEHEHEAK PLEHEHEHEASE?” Janus asked.

Pumpkin nodded her head and stopped tickling him almost immediately. As much as she enjoyed the sound of his laughter, she didn’t wanna overdo it. So Pumpkin snuggled herself into Janus and cooed softly.

Janus giggled at this and wrapped his arms around her. “Growing tired?” He asked.

Pumpkin nodded and snuggled herself even further into him.

“That’s ironic, considering I was the one getting tickled.” He joked.

Pumpkin let out a giggly little gurgle as she slowly succumb to her sleepiness. It didn’t take long for the tiredness to start dripping right off her and onto Janus, effecting him as well. Now Janus was growing more and more tired by the second. Janus decided he minus well cuddle himself in and get himself comfy.

It didn’t take long for Janus to fall into a full and deep slumber. It lasted a long while too. Janus didn’t expect to wake up to the smell of garlic or the sounds of something boiling. The garlic was an obvious thing to put together: garlic bread. But boiling? That could be anything!

This boiling sound would end up revealing itself to be spaghetti noodles in a deep pot. As it turned out, Patton was making spaghetti with garlic bread on the side. For Pumpkin, she was gonna have gummy worms with a new little christmas treat for Pumpkin: a Peppermint Pattie! Patton gave her one to try, and had a few unwrapped in a bowl in case she loved it and wanted more.

Pumpkin picked up the peppermint pattie first. She looked at it curiously, split it into two pieces, and ate one of the halves hesitantly. But the moment she chewed on it and actually tasted the pattie, her eyes widened and a HUGE smile grew onto her face!

Remus giggled as he spun his spaghetti. “Ihi think Pumpkin likes the peppermint pattie!” Remus told him.

Patton looked over and sure enough, Pumpkin was standing below him and eagerly reaching her pods out for more peppermint patties! Patton laughed and happily put more peppermint patties onto her dinner plate. Pumpkin happily bounced in place as she ate the gummy worms and enjoyed the taste of the brand new holiday treat.

[searchingwardrobes]

The Convenient Groom: 5/13

I know Tuesday is posting day for this story, and I also know that I said I was planning to update Start of Time first. Well . . . let’s just say things didn’t go as planned. It’s been a struggle, that’s all I’ll say. This chapter was even supposed to be twice as long, but I got to a place that felt like a natural chapter ending, and these 24 hundred words had been enough of a struggle, I just said “to hell with it.” It probably would have taken me ANOTHER week and a half to get 2k more of this, so I just decided to go ahead and update and just increase the chapter count.

Having said all of that, it was really fun writing Emma and Killian’s dynamic in this, even the awkwardness. I definitely drew on my own experiences in marriage, though whether I’m more like Emma or Killian is up to you to figure out ;) So here we have Emma and Killian their first morning in “their” home as “husband” and “wife”. . .

And shout out to the ladies in the @cssns​ discord chat for their help in this chapter.

Summary: Killian Jones just happens to be there when Emma Swan gets the phone call that changes everything: her fiance is leaving her at the altar. The thing is, it could also mean the end of her career. Convenient that Killian has nothing better to do that day. Convenient that he’s secretly in love with her. Not that Emma has to know that. Written for @spartanguard​ .

Rating: M

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4 @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @welllpthisishappening @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @distant-rose @optomisticgirl @profdanglaisstuff @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite​ @superchocovian​ @sherlockianwhovian​ @vvbooklady1256​ @hollyethecurious​ @winterbaby89​ @delirious-latenight-laughs​ @jennjenn615​ @snidgetsafan​

Emma hadn’t expected to sleep well her first night in a new place, so she was surprised when she blinked her eyes open and stretched to see the sun streaming through the window and the digital clock on the nightstand reading a little past 8 am. It was a bit early for her to wake up naturally without an alarm, but she had slept deeply through the night, and she wasn’t used to such a sunny bedroom. She rolled out of bed, went to the bathroom, and then threw her hair up into a messy bun. She contemplated her options. She felt like a visitor, but if she was going to live here for a year, she had to get over that. What would she do on a normal Sunday morning? Well, first she’d make herself a cup of coffee, so she nodded at her reflection in the mirror as if to psych herself up. For what, she wasn’t sure. She just never liked this feeling of newness, this feeling of trying to insert herself into an already established routine. It reminded her far too much of her childhood.

Well, standing there staring at her own reflection wasn’t going to change anything, so she shuffled out of her room, still not fully awake. A yawn cracked her jaw as she entered the kitchen. It was empty. The entire living area was empty, too. The couch looked like it hadn’t even been slept on. She sighed with relief as she filled the coffee pot with water. Maybe he’d gone into his shop or made a quick trip to the store for something they were low on. Whatever the reason for the empty house, it put her at ease.

She was just pouring her coffee when the back door flew open, and a flash of gold fur came flying towards her accompanied by loud barking. She yelped and almost spilled her coffee as a golden retriever shoved his nose into her thigh and licked at her elbow.

“You have a . . . “ but her voice trailed off as she looked up and saw Killian standing in the doorway. Shirtless. She knew her mouth fell open at the sight of him. It was all that chest hair for one, plus the perspiration that glistened on his skin. The June sun had bronzed him, and his chest heaved with every breath he took. His hair was a mess and slightly damp with sweat. The last shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was. Emma shook her head to dislodge the thought stuck inside. “A dog. You have a dog?”

Killian winced. “Guess I should have mentioned that, huh? Are you allergic?”

“No . . . “ Emma trailed off, awkwardly patting the golden retriever’s head. “I’ve just never had a pet, that’s all.”

The dog shook his head and then licked her hand, his tail wagging. Emma couldn’t hold back her grimace as she wiped the slobber off onto her shorts.

“Smee!” Killian scolded. He grabbed the dog by the collar and pulled him to his side. “Sit!”

The dog obediently plopped onto his haunches, though his tail beat an excited rhythm on the floor as he continued to watch Emma.

“Smee? As in Peter Pan?”

“Aye,” Killian answered as he got down on his knee beside the dog and began to scratch behind his ears. The dog’s eyes slid closed with obvious pleasure. “He’s my first mate. Aren’t you, boy?”

Emma smiled despite herself. As long as Killian took care of the dog and cleaned up after him, she figured it would be okay. He obviously kept the place spotless. Plus, what was she going to do, demand he get rid of a dog he clearly adored for the sake of their temporary, fake marriage?

Killian stood and retrieved a dog bowl from the kitchen’s tiny pantry. He scooped some dry dog food out of a plastic bin under the sink, then set it down by the back door for the dog, who was already slurping water out of a matching dish. She’d somehow missed the bowl and the mat it rested upon. Snoopy was emblazoned across it, the cartoon character’s nose in a dog dish and the word “Suppertime!” printed in cheery letters.

“Nice dog mat.”

Killian chuckled and scratched behind his ear. “Um, that was a gift from Anna last Christmas. She thought it was funny.”

“I see,” Emma nodded, taking another sip of her coffee and trying to look anywhere but at his abs.

“Um . . . so . . . if it’s okay, I was going to shower -”

“Oh, well . . . yeah. That's fine, just . . . could I change real quick first? I was going to get a run in, too.”

“Sure,” he told her with a nod.

Emma set her coffee mug down on the counter and headed for the bedroom. How long would it be this awkward? She fished a pair of Under Armour shorts with a sports bra to match from the suitcase that she had slid under the bed the night before. She’d packed extra clothes, thank God, knowing that they wouldn’t feel like unpacking right away. They, as in she and Walsh. She was supposed to be waking up in that yellow bungalow with Walsh. She pushed the thought from her mind as she pulled the sports bra over her head, grunting like she always did as she started to maneuver the tight fabric over her boobs - never an easy task. She flushed as she imagined the possibility of Killian walking in on her accidentally. One boob stuffed into spandex while the other hung free, her arms twisted in bra straps wasn’t the way she wanted him to see her in a state of undress.

Not that she wanted him to see her undressed. It was just inevitable, right? Living together in this tiny house for an entire year?

Or maybe she’d watched too many rom-coms.

When she returned to the kitchen, Killian was leaning against the counter guzzling a bottle of water. He was still shirtless.

What did he think this was? A photo shoot for GQ? The words “put a damn shirt on” were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. She ignored him and reached around him to retrieve an empty water bottle from the cabinet he’d shown her yesterday. As she did, she glanced in the sink and saw her coffee mug empty, washed, and upside down on the drying rack.

“You threw out my coffee?”

He blinked as he swallowed more of his water. “Aye, it was left out on the counter.”

“I wasn’t finished with it!”

“You said you were going for a run!”

“So?”

“So, it would have been cold. Unless you plan on drinking coffee while running.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I know both those things. I would have warmed it up in the microwave later.”

He wrinkled his nose. “That’s disgusting.”

Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, not to me, so in the future could you please leave my coffee alone?”

His brows rose. “And just how long is your coffee off limits? Until lunch? All day? Until mold starts to grow?”

“Until I say so!” she snapped and whirled away from him and his stupid neat freak tendencies and his stupid animated eybrows and stupid blue eyes and stupid sexy chest hair. She practically stomped over to her treadmill, not caring that she was being slightly immature.

“You’re running there?”

Emma groaned. “So you’re not only a coffee expert, but a running expert too?”

He sauntered over - still no shirt - and inclined his head out the window before them. “I just don’t see why you would use that contraption when you’ve got this gorgeous beach.”

She gritted her teeth as she punched in the settings for her run. “Sand is bad for your ankles and knees.”

“Not if you run right at the water’s edge.”

The machine started her warm up, and Emma began to jog. “Then my shoes get wet.”

Killian leaned against the handrail of her treadmill and gave her his stupidly cocky grin. “What’s wrong with getting a little wet?”

Then his stupid tongue darted across his lips. Emma jerked her gaze away as she hit her stride. She refused to react to his innuendo. He pushed away from the treadmill and began to walk away, but then he threw one last comment over his shoulder.

“I bet I’ll get you running on that beach before long, Swan.”

“Doubtful,” she bit out.

Stupid, stupid man.

**********************************************

Killian drew his arm back then tossed the stick across the beach. Smee barked happily as he chased after it. Killian sighed as he watched the dog chase the stick, reviewing his argument with Emma in his head once again.

He was a neat freak, he knew this about himself. He and Milah had even gotten into arguments because of it. Why did he have to make a federal case out of Emma’s coffee? Washing out the mug was something he had honestly done on autopilot. Too many years of living alone, he supposed. When Emma brought it up, he should have apologized, but he was also a stubborn man. Something about that flash of anger in her eyes riled him up, and honestly, seeing her so vexed at him had been a major turn on. Fighting over coffee felt so domestic, like something a real married couple would do.

So he’d picked a fight. Picked a fight and then audaciously flirted, knowing it would get her hackles up all the more.

Smee was back with the stick, and Killian took it and praised the dog. Smee began to jump around eagerly and bark, clearly not finished with the game, so Killian threw it again.

After he’d gotten out of the shower, trimmed his beard, and dressed, he’d gone back out into the kitchen to make amends with her. Emma, however, had breezed past him saying she needed a shower, too. She’d left a second cup of coffee on the countertop, but he wasn’t foolish enough to spar with her a second time. She’d also left a dirty plate covered in toast crumbs on the kitchen table and a knife smeared with jelly balanced on the edge of the sink. Why did people do that? Kristoff did the same thing, and it was driving Liam insane. “Just in case I want another sandwich” - that had been Kristoff’s explanation. Killian wondered what Emma’s excuse was. He’d steered clear of her coffee, as she’d requested, but he’d cleaned the plate and knife. He’d tried to sit down with his own coffee and a book, but it felt as if the running water of Emma’s shower was echoing through the house. He had to get out.

He usually enjoyed Sundays, but today the hours of leisure stretched ahead of him filled with him and Emma awkwardly dancing around one another.

After Smee retrieved the stick, something distracted him, and he swerved to Killian’s left. The dog dropped the stick and started to bark happily. Killian turned to see what had him so excited. Emma was coming down the steps of the back porch.

She was dressed in navy shorts and a white peasant blouse. Her hair was plaited loosely over one shoulder, and the wind blew strands of it becomingly across her face. She would be the picture of weekend relaxation if not for the tense way she hugged her arms across her middle or the slight hunch of her shoulders. She ignored the dog bouncing around her for attention, and came to an abrupt stop at the end of the crushed seashell path. He jogged across the dunes towards her.

“What’s this doing here?” she asked once he was within earshot. Her eyes had gone wide, her lips rigid, as she pointed at the arch just above her head.

“Well,” he answered, shoving both hands in the pockets of his shorts, “your people had it brought over with everything else. I guess this is where they were told to put it.”

He bit back his temptation to give the word “people” sarcastic bite. Emma groaned and rubbed at her temple.

“I forgot. You’re right, I told them to put it in our backyard.”

Killian nodded as he rocked back on his heels. “You just didn’t expect it to be this back yard.”

Emma actually winced and looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Killian. I just snapped your head off for something that isn’t even your fault. It’s just seeing this arbor -”

“No need to explain,” he quickly cut in. As much as she drove him crazy at times, and was even downright rude, he had to remember that her world had been thrown completely off kilter. None of this was easy.

Her shoulders finally relaxed, and she gave him a tentative smile. She tilted her head up to look at the wedding arbor, then she rested her hand gently upon one of the swans he had painstakingly carved.

“It’s so beautiful,” she told him softly. Her hand stilled, and she turned to look him directly in the eye. “I never thanked you for the time you spent on this.”

He stepped closer, resting his hand opposite hers and leaning forward. “It was my pleasure.”

She ducked her head and fiddled with her braid for a moment before lifting her gaze confidently to him once again. “I came out here to ask what you were doing for lunch.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, I hadn’t given it much thought.”

“Well,” she said, shuffling her feet back and forth, “I was making myself a sandwich with the stuff left over from the honeym - from the trip - and I thought you might be hungry too, so . . . “ She blew a strand of hair out of her face with a slight grunt of annoyance. “Look, I can’t cook much besides scrambled eggs and pancakes, but I do know how to slap a sandwich together. It’s on the back porch if you want it.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and headed straight back from whence she came, Smee bounding behind her. Killian shook his head, feeling like he almost had whiplash from the mercurial Emma Swan. She was as mysterious as the sea - still as glass one moment and volatile the next.

And God help him, he loved the ride.

[anika-ann]

Heart Too Cold, but Friends of Gold - Pt.8

The Truth-bearer

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader     Word count: 2510

Summary: Avenger!reader AU. Part 2 of Melting Hearts series. Part 1 HERE.

Tony creates a superbot. Oh joy - because thats exactly what Steve needs now. Oh and let’s not forget the enhanced individuals... that sent him into a nightmare taht feels all too real.

(Dealing with A:AOU, pt.1)

Warnings: swearing, angst, semi-consensual medical procedures, blood, torture...yep, this one is ugly

Story Masterlist

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Steve didn’t know why he had been hoping his search for Bucky would go any better than his search for you. The results were down to zero; trying to take down the remaining HYDRA bases was not leaving much time for his own investigation in the first place. Bucky was another person he was failing – again.

You were gone. Bucky was gone. None of locked up HYDRA operatives felt like victory to him, despite the team objectively winning. Time dragged.

The Avengers regaining the Asgardian sceptre was a perfect excuse for Tony to throw a party, especially with Thor staying for it. Steve was in no mood for celebrations, meeting individuals enhanced due to experiments – one of them a young woman – bringing back the memories of you too heavily.

But in the end – with the help of Asgardian liquor – he found himself forgetting the weight on his shoulders wearing him down, if only for few moments.

And then Tony’s artificial intelligence appeared with the goal of destroying the world, it apparently made an ally with the enhanced Maximoff twins, and Steve had no time to mope at all.

That was until they went after a man who got his hands on vibranium and a strange energy hit his head, making him dizzy; his eyes fallen shut for a short moment and when he opened them again, things were just not the same.

Steve found himself in a spacious ballroom, loud swing music attacking his ears. He blinked in shock, looking around cautiously.

What the-

An explosion blinded him for a second and he automatically crouched – except no, it wasn’t an explosion, it was just a flash of a camera, an attempt to capture the lively entertainment, men and women dancing together, flirtatious and animated moves, laughter seconding the tune played by the band on the stage.

A bang sounded on his left and he fought the urge to cover his head, the insuppressible instinct gained by years of fighting. It was just one of the waiters opening a bottle of champagne. No guns. No guns anywhere, despite another man in a well-fitting suit cleaning his friends’ jacket – Steve would think he had been shot with the crimson liquid covering his clothes, but he could see few more drops of red wine remaining in the glass in his hand; and of course, everyone around was laughing again.

The resemblance of war in the frisky party was terrifying and Steve found himself wishing to rather be on the battlefield where red meant blood and loud noises meant gunshots – because that he knew how to work with.

“Steve,” soft female voice addressed him and he quickly spun on his heels to face the woman he once loved.

If she hadn’t spoken, it would have taken him a while to recognize Agent Carter, Peggy, young and beautiful, unlike him not wearing a uniform. No, Peggy was all dolled up, pretty blue dress and her lipstick dark shade of red, drawing attention to her mouth curled up in a hesitant smile.

“Are you ready for our dance?” she asked expectantly, and Steve gulped, his nerves working. He started at the woman, grateful when another loud bang gave him an excuse to look away.

What— how? Peggy had grown old, he had been asleep for years, frozen in ice. He had woken up in a modern world, not in this, this wasn’t-- this looked like the times too familiar to him, the times of World War II., the-

“The war is over, Steve. We can go home,” Peggy’s voice suggested gently and Steve slowly turned his head back to her.

Only to find you in her place, a soft inviting smile on your lips. His heart stopped, his breath hitching. The music faded away into slower melody, calmer, but beautiful.

“Snowflake,” escaped his lips unwittingly, the nickname, the endearment so foreign on his tongue after such a long time.

You were here. Wherever this was, whatever this was, you were here, alive and well, pretty red dress flattering your lean figure, making his eyes roam over it before his gaze settled at your face. Your expression was one of shy ones and slightly amused at his awe.

“I know. Blue suits me better, right?” you laughed bashfully, lowering your gaze and it was all it took to Steve’s feet to cross the distance and he pulled you in for a tight hug. “Steve?”

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he breathed out shakily, nuzzling his face in your hair. Tears stung in his eyes, but he ignored them, indulging the sensation of your body pressed to his, your light perfume tickling his nostrils, your hair soft against his skin. “And you look lovely in red.”

Your body shook with hushed laughter and you melted into his embrace, your ear over his heart. Steve loved when you did that, reminding him that his heartbeat was as important to you as yours was to him.

“Are we gonna dance, Steve?”

Steve smiled against your scalp, planting a tender kiss there. “Of course. If you want to. But you know I’m not much of a dancer.”

You pushed against his chest a little with your rather tiny palms, looking up and rewarding him with a gorgeous smile. Your eyes twinkled with happiness.

“You being my partner is what will make it special even if you step on my toes.”

Steve felt his heart swell, too big for his ribcage now. You put your hands around his neck and he wrapped his around your waist in what was barely a dancing stance, but neither of you cared as you swung in the slow rhythm. Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of you – you were so close, so real in his arms and oh so content as if there was no place you would rather be.

Peripherally he noticed that all of the people around you resolved into thin air as if he snapped his fingers; he would find it strange, but then your head was resting against his chest and he realized he didn’t care.

He tightened his embrace and leaned to your ear with sudden urge. “Come home with me,” he whispered, not having a clue where it came from, just knowing he wanted nothing else.

The words rolled off his tongue so easily and felt so right. You going home with him, whatever home it was, wherever home was. The thought of that didn’t scare him, not anymore. You were the only thing that mattered.

Your lips spread into a delighted smile and then you were kissing him, your palms framing his face. You suddenly stood in the halls of the Tower in front of your common room, originally only his, and Steve didn’t care what kind of magic it was. His fingers fell into your hair, drawing you to him, while his other hand was on your waist, never wanting to let you go. Never.

He sunk his lips into yours deeper, exploring the sweet taste of your mouth he had almost forgotten. His hand clutched your dress tightly at the moan you released from your lips and Steve pushed a little, fumbling with the handle so you could get out of your snoopy teammates’ sights. You smiled against his mouth, letting him, and walking backwards as he pushed further blindly until your calf finally hit the bed.

You fell down with a giggle and that was when Steve realized he had no longer control over his body. His eyes snapped open, but it was as if they were and weren’t his own at the same time. His gaze met with sterile white examination room, a cold single bed you now lied on, your smile inviting as ever. His fingers reached for the leather straps on the side of the bed and you offered your wrist deliberately as he clasped it tightly, your other hand following.

Steve fought his own body to stop cuffing you, to stop— whatever he was doing, but it was as if his hands didn’t belong to him. He was just there to watch his body acting without his command. The picture of you flickered in front of his eyes and suddenly your red dress was gone, replaced by sickeningly green hospital gown. His fingers continued their work, tying up your ankles to the bed next.

Steve wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, to curl his hands into fists, just to get a fucking  grip on himself, but it was all in vain. When he fastened the straps, he leaned in, closer to your face, kissing your forehead. You smiled with just a trace of worry, your eyes wide with fear but trusting.

“What are we doing today?” you asked warmly and Steve sensed that the phantom of his body raised one corner of its lips.

“Don’t think we got enough samples yesterday,” he heard himself saying and a second later, he buried a thick needle into your sternum, your scream echoing in his ears.

The inner Steve gasped, crying out your name breathlessly as you threw your head back with your jaw clenched and your eyes squeezed shut. Tears rolled down your cheeks, but he pushed the needle a bit deeper, watching it fill with bone marrow.

And then his hands were on your elbow, taking your blood, adding a fresh vial to several others – eleven, there were eleven vials already and now he added the twelfth one –, and your skin played with colours in the area where the samples were taken from, needle marks blossoming into wide bruises, old ones and fresh ones. Where the skin was free of bruises, it was scarily pale, looking paper thin, and Steve couldn’t fucking breathe, his heart stopping at the sight.

He needed to snap from this, this must have been a dream, a horrible nightmare, how was this-

His fingers brushed sweat-soaked hair from your face, white as sheet of paper apart from the dark circles under your eyes. Your eyelids fluttered open and you met his gaze. You seemed exhausted, but there was an endless trust in your eyes, almost reverential, a sad smile on your purple lips.

“Love you,” you whispered soundlessly and Steve honestly just wanted to scream. Scream until his throat would be raw and hurting, because he was doing this to you somehow.

“Love you too. You’re so strong, Snowflake,” he praised and Steve felt a wave of nausea attacking his stomach, tears in his eyes at the burning sensation of the bile rising to his mouth. This was so wrong, so twisted, the creature wearing his face and calling you that while- “You can take more, can’t you? I know you can, I believe in you.”

Stop this!

This must have been a dream, Steve needed to snap from this, he couldn’t stand it anymore, seeing you like this-- he released a relieved breath as he – not quite him – uncuffed you, mentally thanking god for having mercy upon you – and him.

But it didn’t stop there. The image changed again and suddenly you were strapped to an enormous chair, wires and tubes leading from several machines to your body, tiny lights flickering, periodical beeping of a heart monitor echoing in the room. He watched you from the corner of his eye, mainly focusing on what looked like a bomb exploding in a slowed motion. A strange blue energy surrounded it and he realized with shock that it was you – you were slowing down the detonation with your powers.

“That’s good, Snowflake. I’m so proud of you for controlling it like this,” he heard himself again and he wanted to throw up.

These were his own words. The authentic himself. I believe in you. Love you, Snowflake. I’m so proud of you, you controlled yourself perfectly.

God, Steve just wished to pass out at this point. But here he was, staring dully and unable to do a thing.

“Thank you.”

Something cringed inside him at the tone of your voice, sounding as if you were on your deathbed and yet, your tone was dripping with gratitude and relief.

“But I’m so tired, Steve.”

Steve felt his jaw tremble, yet he knew for a fact that the phantom, the vessel of his body, was unfazed by the statement. It charmed a smile on its lips. “I know, Snowflake. Try harder, hold it. You can do this.”

He saw you nod and his head snapped to you fully as he noticed a trickle of blood dripping down your chin. He tilted his head curiously.

‘No! Stop!’ he wanted to cry out, but no sound came out.

You squinted at the bomb, keeping your focus. Then your eyelids closed, fresh pour of blood coming out of your mouth. Steve sprung forward to do anything – except he didn’t. He didn’t move besides taking two measured steps closer to the chair, his lips whispering to your ear.

“Keep. Working. Or they’ll replace you with me. You wouldn’t want that, would you? For them to hurt me?” he demanded sweetly and Steve felt his insides being torn apart.

What kind of a sick blackmail was that?

The real one, he realized.

This must have been a nightmare, but it was nothing but the truth. You were out there. Most likely tortured. Serving as someone’s personal lab rat. Fighting for your life. And yet, the motivation you had was the fight for his life, because it was never supposed to be you in the chair. It was supposed to be him – or you believed so.

All of that happened to you, because you were trying to protect him. And while he didn’t lead the needles into your body himself, he might as well could; because there he was, unable to do anything, only watching.

Just like when you had talked to Michaels alone, just like when you had disappeared and he should have known you would when you had acted so strangely that fatal night.

Your eyes snapped open at his words with a whimper, a new spark of determination in them.

Steve’s stomach rolled over as he saw the pool of blue energy around your weak hands, fighting to ball into fists. With horror, he realized that the beeping of the heart monitor was unnaturally fast and when he looked at it, the machine was screaming with red exclamation marks.

You coughed and he felt hot liquid hit his cheek. He let out a disgusted sound, once again against his will.

He stood up straight as he reached for a tissue, wiping the substance of his face. The crimson of your blood was in stark contrast to the white of the tissue and when he glanced at you, your eyes were rolled up to the ceiling.

“Bring her back,” he growled, several people in scrubs showing up as if from the thin air. He spun on his heels, heading to the door. “We’re not done with her yet.”

Steve yelled at himself to stop in his track, to fucking stay and fight for her life, but his legs just kept walking.

The doctors and nurse were murmuring something he didn’t understand, the clinking of the tools in their hands unnaturally loud. The room was quiet otherwise; the heart monitor fell silent.

He didn’t even look back and the door clicked shut behind him.

────── ·❆· ──────  

Part 9

────── ·❆· ──────  

Tags: @mermaidxatxheart, @murdermornings, @elisaa-shelby @ask-hellbent-tweek @cxptain, @kallafrench, @smilexcaptainx @scentedsongrebel, @orions-nebula​

────── ·❆· ──────

I’m such a horrible person for enjoying writing this chapter. I know that, okay? :D But I actually enjoyed that little peak in the Avengers’ heads in the AoU movie in the first place, so it was even more fun to toy with Steve’s a little.

One more chapter and then we go back to the ‘reader’ POV ;)

[nachtgraves]

kuzuhina with 11 or 50?

ty for the prompt(s)! I kind combined ‘em :D

Title: Hinata-Sensei’s Got a Secret // AO3Word Count: 2,125Warnings/Tags: G. Alternate universe, established relationship, kindergarten teacher hajime, unspecified businessman fuyuhiko, surprise your boyfriend at work dayPrompts: kiss out of love/happiness

It’s not often that Fuyuhiko visits Hinata at work. Mostly it’s because he’s been mistaken as a student far too many times and he’s not exactly the biggest fan of children. If he does show his face, it’s at the end of the day to pick Hajime up. But sometimes Hajime forgets things at home, like his bento or his rarely used reading glasses, even his lesson plans on the rare occasion. And sometimes Fuyuhiko’s been away for business and he’s going through boyfriend withdrawals.

So he’s not there often, but he’s been around enough that Hajime’s coworkers know him by name. As do his students.

“Hinata-sensei! Hinata-sensei! Ryu-san is here!”

The five-year-olds who only care about the second half of his family name notice him before their teacher does. But Fuyuhiko gives his boyfriend a pass since he’s busy sorting out some sort of situation between two boys who haven’t learned how to share yet. He’s bent over, hands on his knees and back to the door, and Fuyuhiko can’t help but run his gaze under the tie of Hajime’s apron. He’s missed his boyfriend, sue him.

The other children bombard the door and Fuyuhiko steps inside before they can break it down and escape. He’s interrupted arts and crafts time judging by the desks covered in glue and colored paper and glitter. A million questions are thrown at him ranging from what he’s doing here to how his trip was, what’s in the bag, and did he ‘take care’ of anyone.

“Hinata-sensei told you I was out of town, huh?” Fuyuhiko says before answering the questions he catch down the line: visiting Hinata-sensei, good, lunch, and no I’m a business man where did you learn things like that?

With his short, uninteresting answers, most of the kids leave him for their craft projects. By then Hajime’s settled the feuding boys and comes to the door, brushing his hands against his light green apron decorated with white bunnies and warm yellow suns. “I thought you weren’t going to be back until Saturday.”

“Finished up earlier than planned and I took the next train in.” He was supposed to be gone for two and a half weeks. Hajime doesn’t need to know that he rushed through everything and didn’t sleep for two days to complete almost four days’ worth of work. He slept during the train ride.

“Did you come straight here from the station?” Hajime worries. It’s a bit more concern than Fuyuhiko thinks is really needed but maybe the train nap wasn’t enough. His suit is a bit rumpled.

“Had someone take my travel bag to the office and went to a konbini first, I haven’t eaten lunch. Thought we could go home together when you’re done?”

Hajime looks down at the plastic bag in Fuyuhiko’s hands and his shoulders relax in relief. Odd. “Yeah, if you don’t mind waiting.”

Before Fuyuhiko can question Hajime’s strange reactions, they’re interrupted by one of the kids, a nosy little girl with pigtails that crack like a whip from her energetic and exaggerated movements. She pokes around and tries to look into Fuyuhiko’s shopping bag. “What did you bring?”

“Secret,” Fuyuhiko says, quickly lifting the bag away. He doesn’t want to get Hajime in trouble by explaining condoms to his kids. There’s no way Hajime would let him use them when they got home.

The kid pouts but brightens up and smugly raises her chin, running behind Hajime’s legs. “Well, I have a secret, too! Hinata-sensei told it to us and you’re not allowed to know.”

“Oh really? And what am I not allowed to know?” Fuyuhiko teases, looking up at Hajime. He doesn’t think it’s anything big, but Hajime looks panicked, eye wide and smile strained enough it’s a flat-lined grimace more than anything else. It only grows more trained whe, at the loud talk of juicy secrets, the other kids gather around like ants.

“Hinata-sensei’s secret is a big one!” one of them gloats.

“Yup, we’re not supposed to say anything to Ryu-san,” says another.

Hajime claps his hands together, cutting anyone else off. “Okay, everyone. We’ve still got some time before the end of the day. And we still have to clean up so if you want to finish you better get a move on.”

There’s a loud groan but the kids totter back to their tables of glue sticks and glitter and googly eyes. It’s going to be a nightmare to clean up. Hajime turns to Fuyuhiko, seems to hesitate, but steps close and lightly grabs Fuyuhiko’s wrist. His thumb rubs against the soft, sensitive underside, as close to PDA as he’ll allow himself at work. It’s an innocent gesture but Fuyuhiko’s heart ticks, heat pooling low in his stomach and coloring his cheeks. Hajime tends to tease him there with soft kisses and gentle nibbles and maybe he should have just waited for Hajime at home.

“I…give me a minute?” Hajime asks, voice quiet and soft.

Fuyuhiko wants to lean up and close to the distance to get the kiss he’s been missing but settles for twisting his wrist in Hajime’s loosely linking their fingers. “I’m going to sit at your desk and eat my lunch. You handle the brats. Pretend I’m not even here.”

When he moves to do as he said, he faintly hears Hajime mutter, “That’s impossible.” He doesn’t turn around to check, but he’s sure Hajime’s smiling like a sap.

Fuyuhiko settles himself at Hajime’s desk and gets busy with his food. He’d bought a small karage bento, a bag of karinto, and a bottle of sweet tea. He sets to work on the bento first, all but shoveling rice and fried chicken into his mouth.

Fuyuhiko enjoys watching Hajime work. It’s a different side to him but it’s not surprising. He’s got a calming temperament and he likes kids, and as far as Fuyuhiko’s seen, kids and small animals tend to like Hajime too.

The tables are arranged so Hajime can stand in the center and supervise all the children, easily seeing if anyone is struggling or calling for help. He helps one kid cut hearts, praises another for their arrangement of stickers, and writes the characters for words they don’t know to copy with crayon and markers. One kid’s making a birthday card for their older sibling. She wants to put actual candles on the card, light them up, but Hajime convinces her to just draw them instead.

So Fuyuhiko just observes and before he knows it, the bento’s cleaned out and he moves onto the karinto. He eats those just as quickly, regretting buying the smaller bag but knowing it’s for the best. But now his hands are a bit sticky and he doesn’t have any napkins. Luckily, his boyfriend is a kindergarten teacher, the stickiest class to teach, and Fuyuhiko knows Hajime always has a packet of tissues somewhere.

He’d ask Hajime, but his boyfriend is busy listening to a kid explain the story of his project, so Fuyuhiko goes through Hajime’s desk drawers. The first one he opens is full of stickers ranging from the thick foam ones to the usual flat and sparkly, rolls of washi-tape, sticky note pads, and colorful pens and markers. The second one he opens is all paperwork and forms and Hajime’s glasses case. Hoping third time’s the charm, Fuyuhiko pulls open the next drawer and finds Hajime’s personal office supplies and, finally, his collection of pocket tissues, a whole six pack with a cute farm animal print. He goes to rip the packaging and steal one of the packets to use, but as he moves the pack, Fuyuhiko spies a flash of black tucked towards the back. Curious and feeling snoopy, Fuyuhiko digs out the item, his fingers wrap around a palm-sized box made with a sturdy velvet casing. When he pulls it out, his heart pounds against his chest and his breath gets stuck in this throat.

He’s caught between wanting to open it and stuffing it back in the drawer, pretend he didn’t see it because now was not the time. But he’s frozen in place, holding the ring box. He only moves when a child yells, “Hinata-sensei’s secret!”

“Miyo-chan, what are you…”

Fuyuhiko looks up as Hajime’s voice trails off. His face is pale and he’s staring at the box in Fuyuhiko’s hand.

“I was looking for tissues,” Fuyuhiko says in a daze, automatically. He’s not defensive, he found the box by accident and if it’s what he thinks it is, he might faint right then and there. But he’s not the fainting type so he’s just frozen, stuck in the calm before a reaction he’s still trying to figure out.

Hajime’s flustered. His skin is pale and his eyes wide. Fuyuhiko still hasn’t figured out what reaction he’s falling into but the need to know is overwhelming and he opens the box. Inside is a ring, a silver piece, two threads of metal woven together, one engraved with a reptile-like scale pattern and tiny gold gems spaced out along the waves.

“Fuyuhiko,” Hajime stutters. “I, uh, I can explain.”

But Fuyuhiko doesn’t want an explanation. He’s moving before he can think things through, striding the short distance from Hajime’s desk to Hajime himself. Everything around Fuyuhiko fades into nothingness, there is nothing except the ring box in his hand and Hajime frozen like a deer in the headlights.

And it’s quite convenient because Fuyuhiko can throw his arms around Hajime’s neck, tugging him down for a kiss because that’s all that’s on his mind. He’s smiling, beaming ridiculously he can’t even properly kiss his boyfriend, his soon-to-be fiancé. Questios run through his mind in the background, how long has Hajime had the ring, when was he going to ask, is it the kind of ring Fuyuhiko thinks it is, and more, but he’s too busy being happy.

Hajime kisses him back once he shakes himself of his shock and his arms go around Fuyuhiko’s waist, squeezing him into a hug, lifting Fuyuhiko to his toes and almost off the ground.

“So you’re not mad?” Hajime breathes when the kiss ends.

Fuyuhiko tugs at Hajime’s hair sharply. “Stupid question.” He pulls away, letting Hajime straighten his back. Hajime keeps his hands at Fuyuhiko’s waist. Fuyuhiko holds the ring box between them.

“There are worse hiding places,” Fuyuhiko comments with a laugh.

Hajime huffs. “I was paranoid about losing it, or you finding it somewhere at home.”

“So you stuffed it with pens and pocket tissues.”

“Shut up. I didn’t think you’d be digging through my drawers at work. I was planning this whole thing for when you got back this weekend. And now you’ve got karinto crumbs and syrup all over the box.” Hajime’s smiling, if a touch ruefully.

“I’ll get karinto crumbs and syrup all over the ring when it’s on my finger,” Fuyuhiko retorts. He’s not really thinking and his words register only after they’re out of his mouth.

Hajime’s looking down at him like he’s something amazing, lips parted and curved in a soft smile. He removes one hand from Fuyuhiko’s waist and lays it over Fuyuhiko’s hands, encasing the ring box. “So, can I take that as your answer?”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it. Ask me properly, dumbass.”

For a second Fuyuhiko thinks Hajime is going to do just that, get on his knee and propose right then and there. Or he’s going to kiss Fuyuhiko and Fuyuhiko is fine with either scenario.

But reality makes its appearance in the accusing cry of a five year old. “Ryu-san said a bad word!”

Around them, Fuyuhiko observes all the children just watching the two of them. They quickly separate and in their rush drop the ring box. Hajime scrambles to catch it and holds it close. He’s bright red and Fuyuhiko knows he’s of a similar shade himself, probably radiating heat from his embarrassed flush. Hajime clears his throat and Fuyuhiko runs a hand through his hair.

The kids are grinning at them, erupting in chatter about Hajime and Fuyuhiko’s wedding, what the two are going to wear, about Fuyuhiko finding out Hinata-sensei’s big secret, and Fuyuhiko calling their beloved sensei a dumbass.

The day’s almost over and Hajime has a classroom of kindergarteners to get a hold of. He claps his hands in a simple rhythm, and as if entranced the kids echo is back and fall silent, staring up at Hajime and Fuyuhiko with wide, expectant eyes.

“Uh, um,” Hajime stumbles. “It’s almost time to go home so let’s start cleaning up. And, uh, how about we keep this,” he glances to Fuyuhiko, biting his bottom lip as he smiles, “a secret?”

[zerotexas1975]

BTS Fanfics Recommendation (hybrids au)

I don’t know why it’s so hard to find hybrids fics out there when we clearly have plenty of them made by spectacular authors, so I decided to make this and I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do! Also, if you have any other recommendation feel free to send me a ask/message!

I’ll be posting another fic rec anytime soon, I’m working on it already and it’s HUGE. I’m clearly not including hybrids au there.

♡ = super personal favorite

Completed.

Sanctuary by @btsreactsarchive (hybrid!bts) ♡

Just imagine living with seven hybrids.

Inheritance by @seokkbuns (catboy!yoongi)

"After your grandmother passed she left everything to you. Her house, her fortune, and apparently… her cat? The grumpy male hybrid you encounter at her house is anything but the tame housecat you’d expected to find. Fulfilling your grandmother’s last request to look after him becomes a lot harder when he seems to be avoiding you, and your dissatisfied relatives start stirring up trouble."

Kitten’s Little Flame by @magicalsalamander (dragon!yoongi) ♡

"He’s the calming cool you seek in the Summer, but a comforting warmth in the Winter."

One Good Purr (deserves another) by @jinpire (fox!taehyung)  ♡

"Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to visit Taehyung just before your heat. (Or to ask if his best friend was available.)"

part II part III and part IV

Oneshot/mini series.

Princess, or a Queen? by @kitten-dont (bunny!jungkook)  ♡

“He was your bunny, the one who you loved to sub for, but what happens when you want a change? When you come home to find a surprise laying in your bed, there’s no way that you’ll give up on making your fantasies come true.”

Silly Kitty by @seokkbuns (catboy!seokjin) ♡  

"When your friend Jungkook asks you for a favour you aren’t quite expecting it to end with you taking home the handsome cat hybrid he found in an alley."

Happy Kitty by @seokkbuns (catboy!seokjin) (silly kitty afterstory) ♡

"After trying to confess your feelings for two weeks after Seokjin’s birthday, you finally trap him under some mistletoe."

Under The Bridge by @seokkbuns (bunny!jungkook)

"Your life takes a turn for the better one night when you find a bun under the bridge."

Timid by @seokkbuns (bunny!jimin) ♡  

"Jimin was by far the cutest person you’d ever seen, but he always seemed to avoid you, dodging activities and events that included you. That changes when his home is compromised and he finds himself staying with you while it’s being repaired."

shorts: sweets & uno annnnd there’s going to be a sequel, I need my life back

Bobsy-die by @seokkbuns (wolf!seokijin) ♡

"Fed up after a week of being ignored by your friend and crush, you march on over there to rip him a new one with hell on your heels and find yourself in a situation with more than you bargained for."

Made Just for You by @jungoongi (hybrid!seokjin)  ♡

"You are fairly new to the world of being a genetics researcher, and you’ve only held this position for six months before your boss entrusts a serious case upon you. Jin is a lab-made hybrid, and they made him wrong. Is it possible though, that even with his wrongly coded DNA, that he was made just for you?"

(pretty please give this baby lots of love, she's adorable)

Infatuation by @balmaineoark (dogboy!taehyung)

Missing you by @milkguks (catboy!yoongi)

Oh pretty kitty, this bath wasn’t meant for two  by @milkguks (catboy!yoongi) 

"Min Yoongi did not like bath time. Not even a little bit. Not even at all."

Take it Like a Puppy by @icyhobi (dogboy!hoseok)  ♡

"You and Hoseok have been best friends since you were young. Your friendship with him, was struck as odd since you were a cat hybrid, while he was a dog hybrid. But that didn’t matter, that is until you both start attending university. What happens when one of you unexpectedly goes into heat?"

I don’t like baths but I’ll get in if you will by @choking-on-tae (catboy!taehyung) Cheeky Bunny by @yoongihime (bunny!jungkook)  ♡

"You’re a predator and he’s the prey, so what happens when the tables finally turn for our dearest bunny?"

(I always come back to read this one again!)

Soft by @yoongihime (catboy!yoongi)

The Foxs Little Kitten by @ausblack (fox!taehyung) "No one knew how you and Taehyung met, but they knew how attached you two were. Even if you were completely different, everything worked just right. He was your strong fox and you were his little kitten. Nothing could change that; until Taehyung found out that someone was trying to take away his little kitten from him." And here's part 2.

Wolf in The Woods by @btsreactsarchive (wolf!namjoon) "You had always loved the woods. When you were little it was your playground, your imaginary territory. As you grew older, it became your refuge from the rest of the world. Most importantly it was the place where your home was nestled and where you met the wolf."

Tournée Du Chat Noir by @kittae (catboy!yoongi)

"You're only trying to take care of your feline boyfriend, but when you deny him his milk, you're about to find out just how much he owns you, too."

Favourites and Servants by @kittae (catboy!taehyung) "You suspect your dearest feline boyfriend of secretly stealing a taste of your freshly baked cake with whipped cream coating, and he'll do anything to prevent you from finding out."

Heavy Petting by @kittae (catboy!jimin)

"Your boyfriend is not just a cat hybrid, he's also very needy! When you come home from work and you expect him to be all over you, you're fairly disappointed to find he prefers a nap over some well-deserved quality time. You'll make sure to pay him back for that."

There's more coming for the rest of the boys and a drabble for Jimin!

Salty and Sweet by @jinpire (shifter!seokjin)

"You opened the coupon and read the label, surprised that the small grocery store could afford to have coupons in the newspaper, when you spotted the chain convenience store logo in the upper right corner."

Sunflower Power by @jinpire (shifter!seokjin) (sequel to salty and sweet)

“I’m not stalking anyone,“ he hissed, shoving the boxes back on the shelf and striding quickly to the mixed nut section. He had more coupons he was eager to use. "I’m a customer.”

Lush Brush by @jinpire (shifter!yoongi x professional cuddler au)

"Your newest customer is a surly cat shifter battling insomnia."

Cat Nap (and a hint of cat nip) by @jinpire  (sequel to lush brush)

"Yoongi wants to give the bed a try this time."

Buttered Bear claws  by @jinpire (shifter!namjoon) (drabble)

"You really hadn’t done anything to the bear claw, but you get why he might be suspicious. If someone offered you a free pastry with a shit-eating grin, you’d cram it back in their face."

Early Birds by @jinpire (shifter!namjoon) (drabble)

"You bring some much needed fuel to your early bird, Professor Kim."

Tell Me Your Secrets (I'm all ears) by @jinpire (shifter!jungkook)  ♡

"You’re not afraid of Jeon Jeongguk. Even if he’s probably some kind of bear or giant cat shifter, and just a hint of his irritation had your instincts vibrating beneath your skin like a live wire. Your thumb brushed over the plastic dome of mini-Levi’s head, taking comfort in the cartoon scowl and dead eyes, the tiny grey sticks of his 3DM gear. Small could be pretty fucking powerful too."

associated works: nooks and naps; foxie moxie (don’t pull my tail); look before you leap; fluffles and kerfuffles

Morning Cuddles by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader)  ♡

  "When you have to study, but have needy hybrids who just want to chill in bed all day with you."

From Sour to Sweet by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi) (yoongi's backstory)  ♡

"When you find a new friend in the strangest way."

Growing Pains by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader) (taehyung’s Backstory)  ♡

"How do a cat and dog hybrid get along? Very carefully."

Of Nicknames and Kisses by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader)  ♡

"Your hybrids are attracted to you, but will you accept them?"

Swimming with the Pheromones by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader)  ♡

"Your hybrids smell something odd and things get a little heated to say the least."

Agree to Disagree I by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader)  ♡

"One does not simply get a cat and dog to play nice."

Agree to Disagree II by @arrianna21 (catboy!yoongi x dogboy!taehyung x reader)  ♡

"When your two hybrids decide to play with their dessert"

Yep, hearts for them all  ♡

Bloody Heaven by @arrianna21 (bunny!hoseok x dogboy!jimin x reader)  ♡

“Mother Nature could be a real pain in the ass.  Good thing your two hybrids are there to take care of you”

Don't Fox With My Heart Sweet Tart by @jinpire (fox!taehyung)

"You’re neck deep in festival toys and a pet fish named Gerard before you realize that it’s Valentine’s day and this is a date."

Lovely Spots (lords a-leaping) by @jinpire (shifter!hoseok) "One of the stage hands had been a little too careless with the costumes when preparing the backstage dressing rooms for opening weekend, which is why you’re here, half an hour before the opening act hastily trying to sew up the lapels on Romeo’s coat. "

A Herd Of Strange, Dear Creatures by @jinpire (deer!hoseok) "You’re staring at his face, at the flashes of dainty earrings dancing along the shells of his ears, when you realize. Springing from within his thick, curly brown hair are antlers. Of the same kind that you often spotted on wild deer back home, when you helped Seokjin hunt down meat for the winter. Tall, twining bone the color of eggshells and stone sprout from the top of his head, carrying tangles of thread tipped with beads and herbs amongst their bows and branches."

Wolf Boy and Snoopy Girl by @ausblack (wolf!namjoon)  ♡

“I mean, he’s the alpha. He knows what he’s doing.”

Rescue by @ausblack (wolf!namjoon)  

“Where you really going against the laws just to save two hybrids that you’ve never seen before?”

My Beautiful Kitty by @ausblack (hybrid reader x jimin)

“Whenever you felt insecure, he knew that you needed to be reminded how much you were loved.”

Protect by @ausblack (black panther!jimin)  ♡

“Unfortunately, Hoseok couldn’t stop an hybrid’s heat.”

The Fox’s Little Kitten by @ausblack (fox!taehyung)

“No one knew how you and Taehyung met, but they knew how attached you two where. Even if you were completely different, everything worked just right. He was your strong fox and you were his little kitten. Nothing could change that; until Taehyung found out that someone was trying to take away his little kitten from him.”

Final (?)

(check her masterlist for more, they are on my to-read-list but I bet they're just as good!)

Ivory Paws by @yminie (catboy!yoongi)  ♡

“ Winter time brings Christmas, and the snow outside brought you a stray cat. But your little companion is far more unique than meets the eye, and in a time of need, he becomes the biggest surprise and best holiday gift of them all. “

Ongoing.

Cat Got Your Tongue by @wonhopes (catboy!taehyung) ♡ "When your boyfriend cheats on you you’re left heartbroken and lost all hope in relationships. Santa says you’ll find love soon, but what do you do when you’re beloved cat turns into a beautiful grown man?"

Patience by @btsreactsarchive  (silver tiger!taehyung)  ♡

"Y/N works for the Hybrid Protective Services. She saves a hybrid during an undercover operation and becomes his foster home."

Awoo~ by @rum-n-hope (hoseok x hybrid reader) ♡  

there's a drabble for this masterpiece: You Smell Weird

Don't care if it hurts by @hollyhomburg (dogboy!jimin) ♡ "After a rival gang makes an attempt on your life, your older brother, the infamous leader of Seoul’s largest gang; Kim Namjoon gets you a guard hybrid; Park Jimin, The reigning champion of Seoul’s underground hybrid fighting ring."

(please check her masterlist and read BTS Hybrid House, thank you very much)

Little Bear by @b-angst-tan (sugar glider!jimin) ♡

"You’ve always wanted a hybrid. Not truly being able to afford one makes it seem impossible that you’d have one anytime soon. Until the opportunity presents itself as if by miracle."

Sweet Tears by @kitten-dont (catboy!jungkook) ♡

"Who could have known that taking home a hybrid would change one’s whole life? How could y/n have guessed he would affect her so much? All she wants to do is help, but she doesn’t even know if he’ll let her."

Preferences by @kitten-dont (taehyung!jimin x reader)

"Preferences compliment choices. You prefer this over that, her over him, similarities over oppositions- you choose what you like most and go with it. When something is more significant than the other, you go for it- that’s just how humans are. But what about when your choice is between two things of equal importance? What then?"

(This one is actually on my to-read-list but Kitten wrote so I'm recommending it already cause we know it's good)

Aurelius by @magicalsalamander (werewolf!namjonn) (Kitten’s Little Flame universe)

"When the daughter of the secretary of the Minister for Wolf and Canine relations is the last living member of her clan, she must find a way to avenge her family. She must find a way to put an end to the hunters who’s sole purpose is to cleanse the world of werewolves. The golden one hasn’t forgotten. Will she be able to get the revenge she needs?"

The Firefly that Guards the Fox by @magicalsalamander (fox!taehyung) (Kitten’s Little Flame universe) "His mother and father weren’t supposed to fall in love. They weren’t supposed to find a mate in one another. They weren’t supposed to. After losing his father years ago, Taehyung vows to find and avenge the injustice his family has gone through. You were childhood friends with Taehyung. The four of you Taehyung, Hoseok, your older brother and you were inseparable. You were torn apart from Taehyung, your fox who’ve you’ve always vowed to protect and be with, without a warning. He called you Firefly, you called him Tae-Tae the fox. Was your fate supposed to end there in the past with your childhood?"

The Rabbit on the Moon by @magicalsalamander (bunny!jungkook) (Kitten’s Little Flame universe) "The moon was your sun. You’ve grown up working under the moonlight as long as you could remember. You served a man, who controlled the monsters that roamed the city at day and night, or rather the devil himself. When the others around you slowly start disappearing, you start wondering if it’ll soon be your turn. A hand reaches out to you, the hand of a gentle rabbit disguised as a wolf, offering a way out. Will you be able to escape the clutches of the devil in time?"

Out of the Blue by @imaginethisbts (dogboy!jungkook)  ♡

“Jungkook has only ever thought of his breeding clients as just that - clients, and he’s always quite indifferent to them since he only ever knows them for a short period of time. But then you come along, and he starts experiencing feelings that aren’t being manipulated by your heat. Real feelings, that he has never harbored before with anyone else.”

Warmer Than Fur by luminaraed (shifter!jungkook) (Quotev)  ♡

“"You are on the way home one rainy night until you stumble upon a poor creature half-drowned in tar. You take care of it, and upon discovering that it has only three legs, you decide to take care of this adorable little bunny. Except... it's not really a rabbit, but a little hybrid named Jeon Jungkook."

I’ve been blessed??????? this one is so precious!

updated 6.20.18 (links fixed!)

let the authors know what you thing of theirs stories;be nice!

reminder: don’t repost/translate any of them without the authors consent

if for some reason you don’t feel comfortable with this post please let me know and I’ll delete your story

i’m working on a new post so :) 

[frances048]

2018 Summary Of Art by Fran48

Blank meme here for any of you guys who want to try it :) I can't believe that it's just two days till 2019..Time goes so fast XD :) Here are the previous years memes : 2012: https://fran48.deviantart.com/art/2012-Art-Summary-Fran48-343638908 2013: https://fran48.deviantart.com/art/2013-Art-Summary-Fran48-422621435 2014: https://fran48.deviantart.com/art/My-2014-Summary-Of-Art-Fran48-503896864 2015: https://fran48.deviantart.com/art/My-2015-Summary-of-art-578886586 2016: https://fran48.deviantart.com/art/Fran48-s-2016-Summary-Of-Art-6540407232017 : My 2017 Summary Of Art Now I'll summarise my art of 2018 :)   This year has been full of its ups and downs, with struggles with mental health but still some very enjoyable and funny times too :) I think I've done quite a few pieces this year however maybe not as many as I'd like as my apprenticeship kept me busy :) The resources I used this year included The resources I used this year included Ms paint, gel pens, watercolour pencils, coloured pencils, mechanical pencils, fine liner pens, pencils, coloured pens, chalk , charcoal ,crayons, camera, phone, video camera, felt tip pens, Articulate, Windows Movie Maker, Paint tool sai, and on some occasions, Pixelmator which I purchased for my new imac I bought with my earnings.. I plan to use it more next year :) I have also done a few redraws this year (insert here) to help me work on developing my own art style ;3 I have also messed around with my phone a lot this year, adding silly filters to pics and my artwork :) January

This month, I started watching K-on and Fairy Tail again and drew quite a lot of digital pics from the shows including my Bickslow pic ,Erza pic(which I digitally edited using apps on my phone) and a Mio pic I also watched the Live action Disney film Maleficent which inspired me to draw the pic included in this meme:)https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Maleficent-723817285

February

This month I continued drawing Fairy tail pics and pics in digital software but also experimented using Articulate 360 and created an interactive Junko Enoshima soundboard. I however was unable to work out how to upload it here ^^;....so made a flash recording of what it was capable of https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Junko-thingy-730187122 (you will need Flash player to view this) MarchThis month I got into quite a few different animes, namely Persona, Pandora hearts  and Durarara and drew pieces from them. I also continued to draw pics from fairy tail, particulally pics of Erza Scarlet..lol it was in this month and April that I realised I had developed an obsession with her because she's so cool , beautiful, badass but also human and relatable as a person^_^       I also started including more youtube speedpaints, including a one of Sarada Uchiha..;3...https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Sarada-speedpaint-youtube-link-below-735619409

April

This month I continued to draw art of Erza lol and Persona art but also got into My hero academia ;3 and started drawing art from it ^_^ May

This month I continued to draw art from My hero academia , Fairy tail, and Naruto but also a piece from Durarara :) . I also went to see the Avengers film (which I didn't enjoy too much for obvious reasons if you guys have seen it ..It kind of felt like a weird fanfic..though that's just my feelings on it ^^' ) and somehow ended up drawing Gamora (see meme) https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Gamora-744789878 June

I took part in Narutoweek in that month https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/gallery/66581702/Narutoweek which I really loved :) I also created Youtube videos of drawings for Sunnycon guest voice actresses Caitlin Glass (who actually saw my videos and the pic on Twitter!!!!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s85fOvde9-4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZhkjbW5uHg&feature=youtu.be and Cherumi Leigh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr86aHtITyw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59aytmWAoY They both loved my pics and signed them to my delight ^_^ Sunnycon itself was pretty awesome - I got to meet some of my friends again, see amazing cosplays but also cosplay as best girl...Erza ....:D <333333 (https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/gallery/66687467/Erza-Scarlet-cosplay which...in turn inspired more fanart....and memes of her over the rest of the months XDDDD...lolJulySo in July I watched through the first season of Sword art online and drew fanart...I now understand the controversy about it ^^;....I also got up to date with the 1st season of Toyko ghoul re and watched Persona 5...which I loved as much as Persona 4 but for different reasons....:D and drew fanart ;3... I also watched Miss Kobayashi's dragon maid which was so funny and thus came the fanart ;3... And then....coming back to Erza yet again...I made myself into a meme...XDDD......an Erza x cake senpai meme XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Yes I need to get a life..https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Cake-senpai-752605870

August

This month I drew a lot of traditional art including a piece of Akuro and Chanco from one of my fav youtube channels..ShiroYuki Productions https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1up9mKAfOJvbrl1vN02waQ I also started watching FMA brotherhood..which I have yet to fully completely get through....^^;..I also did a pic in honour of Stefan Karl Steffanson ..which although I knew he had sadly passed away a while ago, I didn't fully appreciate how amazing he was until then :(..Tbh I hadn't really found Lazytown appealing in my younger days and found it kind of creepy ^^;..but I have respect for that guy now :)I also kind of got obsessed with the songs from the band Fleetwood mac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ul-cZyuYq4&list=PLCC4CD5FD7684F0A3 ..and made this piece randomly https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Fleetwood-mac-761976020

September

This month, I got into the anime Seven deadly sins and drew fanart from it. I continued to do speedpaints for Youtube and use Paint tool sai :) though I did draw some traditional pieces ;3 I also heard my brother continously play Birdhouse in your soul by They might be giants...I looked into it and saw the official vid and created this piece https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Make-a-little-birdhouse-in-your-soul-764678942 I also created my own original piece of a deer girl which I was very proud of https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Deer-girl-765391080 OctoberThis month I continued to create both traditional and digital drawings including a piece of Nico Robin in her baroque works outfit https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Miss-All-Sunday-Nico-Robin-767252161 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Me-and-my-new-Nico-Robin-pic-767253230 , Froppy from My hero academia https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Froppy-speedpainting-link-below-768574612 , Fafnir from Miss Kobayashi's dragon maid https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Fafnir-speedpainting-see-link-below-768574727 and more ;3..I also continued creating Youtube speedpaintings. I also participated in Inktober ;3..https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/gallery/67321324/Inktober-2018

November I started watching more of Fairy Tail again https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Levy-and-Gajeel-chibis-Speedpaint-drawing-772478351  and continued watching the Boruto series..:) https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Six-paths-sage-mode-naruto-youtube-link-below-771541151 I continued drawing both traditionalhttps://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Monomi-speedpainting-link-below-773973512  and digital pieces   https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Ultimate-imposter-Ryota-Mitari-It-s-alright-now-771067838 but also started doing intial recorded sketches which were recorded on my phone, then photographed/scanned in and then further recorded digitally before being uploaded to Youtube, an example of this being my Gundham Tanaka pic.. https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Gundham-Tanaka-speedpaint-link-below-774096226 December

I spent pretty much most of this month creating Christmas artwork which was scheduled to be uploaded to Youtube every day till the 24th of December :) https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Sarada-as-an-angel-link-below-776968163 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Christmas-Rukia-link-below-776968200 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Alphonse-christmas-link-below-776968150 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Delibird-776573119 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Yuri-can-you-hear-my-heartbeat-775901800 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Olaf-775901553 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Victor-speed-drawing-link-below-775901681 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Glaceon-speedpaint-link-below-775775663 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Snoopy-Christmas-775499922 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Tobirama-speedpaint-774936436 https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Erza-christmas-drawing-775195304 . This for the most part went well but was pretty hard to do as things got busier at work..^^; These pieces were a combination of traditional and digital pieces :) I also started practising poses, firstly starting on this short Naruto and Jiraiyia manga thing https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Naruto-and-Jiraiya-reunion-short-manga-in-colour-777916676 .. I also drew a picture of the beast from Beauty and the beast after this https://www.deviantart.com/fran48/art/Beast-777789340 :) My family really loved this piece and want to have it framed ^_^ This has further encouraged me to create more disney pieces :) I have also started playing Pokemon moon and have already been preparing pokemon art for next year :) Overall I feel I have gotten into a few different animes this year but I want to get into so more being the anime obsessed nerd that I am XDD I also really want to cosplay more..XDD...I also want to work on more new art pieces next year but I'll have to see how busy I am and how life goes XDD...I'm not sure how much I've improved this year, I have been working really hard on improving my poses but I still need to improve , as with anatomy :) I may not say this enough and may not be very active all the time but you guys who have stuck with me through every anxiety journal , moan ( know I often sound like a broken record half of the time with my anxiety and everything else ^^;) and the spam posts of artwork, I want to say I appreciate every kind comment, like and watch I have been given, they honestly mean so much to me :hug: and also the patience of many of you who were waiting for replies from me and having to wait months and even years ^^;....XD..I honestly need to work on replies in the new year among a number of other things ^^;...I may have missed out details of this but this is just a general summary so yeah ^^;... Hope you all had a lovely christmas and Have a wonderful new 2019 when it comes :D ^_^Thanks again Frances/Fran/or whatever you want to call me lol

[realtruesuccessor]

Tag!!!

I got tagged by @thequeertheywarnedyouabout thanks!!!

Tag 9 people:

Okay, here we go! @gameswillbeplayed @writer-with-caffeine @almostsane-things @kiranatrix @nearriver @rise13eyond @starsanddn @evilpotatoqueen @queenkamukura 

Colors I’m currently wearing:

gray socks, loose gray shorts, a loose t-shirt with Snoopy on it - so basically, my pajamas

Last band t-shirt bought:

I don’t really have any band t-shirts?

Last band I saw live:

Not sure...I don’t usually go to concerts or actively seek out bands...sometimes I go to outdoor events/fairs/festivals and there will be a band set up on a stage, but I don’t pay much attention to who the band is. Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to music, but live music isn’t something I have much experience with

Lipstick or chapstick:

Chapstick! I’ve only ever worn lipstick on special occasions like formal dances and stuff, and even then, my mom made me wear some of hers, I don’t actually own any lipstick lol. Meanwhile, I love chapstick, it’s so comforting and helpful when you have chapped lips! Also, it makes your lips look cool and shiny!

Last song I listened to:

Human Nature by Michael Jackson was playing on the radio earlier and I listened to that

Last movie I watched:

I watched this really cool movie called Solace the other day! It stars Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell, Abbie Cornish and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The plot is super interesting; it’s about a psychic doctor who is hunting down a serial killer. I highly recommend Solace because of the great acting and the amazing story, but be warned that there are some major jump scares and flashes, and some of the creative choices/camera work is annoying. 

Last three tv shows I watched:

Voltron Season 6 (ahhhhhh), Wakfu Season 2 (also ahhhhhh), Law and Order: SVU - and I was also re-watching some of Trollhunters, recently, I have to mention that!

Book(s) I’m currently reading:

I’m not really reading anything right now - I struggle with motivation to read books and novels, so I really don’t read anymore unless I have to

Bold statements that are true, italicize statements you wish were true-

Air:

i have small hands // i love the night sky // i watch small animals and birds when i pass by them // i drink herbal tea // i wake to see dawn // the smell of dust is comforting // i’m valued for being wise // i prefer books to music // i meditate // i find joy in learning truths from the world around me

Fire:

i don’t have straight hair // i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls // i play an organized sport // i love dogs // i am not afraid of adventure // i love talking to strangers // i always try new foods // i enjoy road trips // summer is my favorite season // my radio is always playing

Water:

i wear bracelets on my wrists // i love the bustle of the city // i have more than one set of piercings // i read poetry // i love the sound of a thunderstorm // i want to travel the world // i sleep past midday most days  // i love dimly lit diners and fluorescent signs // i rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia // i see emotions in colors not words

Earth:

i wear glasses/contacts // i enjoy doing the laundry // i am a vegetarian or vegan // i have an excellent sense of time // my humor is cheerful // i am a valued adviser to my friends // i believe in true love // i love the chill of the mountain air // i’m always listening to music // i am highly trusted by the people in my life

Aether:

i go without makeup in my daily life // i make my own artwork // i keep track of my tasks and time // i always know true north // i see beauty in everything // i can always smell flowers // i smile at everyone i pass by // i always fear history repeating itself // i have recovered from a mental disorder // i can love unconditionally

[mk1comics]

This Week: We are a little uncertain when this week's comics will arrive - hoping for THURSDAY 19th but allow an extra day due to freight congestion.. Our Cover Gallery has all the pics of the expected new arrivals https://blog.mk1.co.nz/COVERGALLERY    Keep an eye on the LATEST comics page http://www.mk1.co.nz/collections/latest-comics  -  will update as we receive the new titles

Here's the New To MK1 list for the end of the week 

2099 OMEGA #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190942

AGENTS OF ATLAS #5 (OF 5) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191044

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #36 2099 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190929

ANNIHILATION SCOURGE OMEGA #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190877

AQUAMAN TP VOL 01 UNSPOKEN WATER https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190546

AVENGERS #28 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191022

BASKETFUL OF HEADS #3 (OF 7) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190593

BATGIRL TP VOL 06 OLD ENEMIES https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190548

BATMAN #85 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190503

BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS HC VOL 02 ARKHAM KNIGHT https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190558

BATMAN LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH #3 (OF 3) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190478

BATMAN SUPERMAN #5 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190513

BATMAN TP VOL 11 THE FALL AND THE FALLEN https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190554

BLACK PANTHER #19 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191039

BLADE RUNNER 2019 #5 CVR A POPE (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192112

BLOODSHOT (2019) #4 CVR A SHALVEY https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192185

CATWOMAN #18 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190515

CONAN SERPENT WAR #2 (OF 4) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190898

CRITICAL ROLE VOX MACHINA ORIGINS SERIES II #4 (OF 6) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190282

DAREDEVIL #15 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191060

DEAD MAN LOGAN TP VOL 02 WELCOME BACK LOGAN https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190985

DEATHS HEAD TP CLONE DRIVE https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP191000

DOCTOR WHO 13TH HOLIDAY SPECIAL #2 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192117

DOLLAR COMICS THE FLASH #164 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190616

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #12 (OF 12) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190523

ETERNALS #1 FACSIMILE EDITION https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190922

ETERNALS SECRETS FROM MARVEL UNIVERSE #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190921

EXCALIBUR #4 DX https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190916

FALLEN ANGELS #4 DX https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190911

FAMILY TREE #2 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190205

FARMHAND #12 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190206

FEMALE FURIES TP https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190567

FIREFLY #12 CVR A MAIN GARBETT https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191409

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDYS GN VOL 01 SILVER EYES (C: 0-1-0) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192048

FLASH FORWARD #4 (OF 6) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190529

FOLKLORDS #2 (OF 5) CVR A SMITH https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191413

GHOST-SPIDER #5 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190986

GREEN LANTERN HC VOL 02 THE DAY THE STARS FELL https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190569

GREEN LANTERN TP VOL 01 INTERGALACTIC LAWMAN https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190568

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191051

GWENPOOL STRIKES BACK #5 (OF 5) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191031

HARLEEN #3 (OF 3) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190494

HE MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE MULTIVERSE #2 (OF 6) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190544

HEART ATTACK #2 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190209

HISTORY OF MARVEL UNIVERSE #6 (OF 6) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191033

INFECTED DEATHBRINGER #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190479

INFECTED THE COMMISSIONER #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190480

INFINITY 8 #17 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191969

INVADER ZIM #48 CVR A https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/AUG192143

INVADERS #12 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191032

JIM HENSON DARK CRYSTAL AGE RESISTANCE #4 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191419

JIM HENSON STORYTELLER SIRENS HC  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/AUG191414

JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER #2  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190601

JOKER KILLER SMILE #2 (OF 3) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190547

JUSTICE LEAGUE #38 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190553

KING THOR #4 (OF 4) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191014

KLAUS LIFE & TIMES OF JOE CHRISTMAS #1 (C: 1-0-0) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191386

LAST GOD #3 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190602

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #2 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190559

LOW LOW WOODS #1 (OF 6) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190469

LUCIFER #15 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190603

MAD MAGAZINE #11 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP190507

MAGIC THE GATHERING CHANDRA TP VOL 01 (C: 1-1-2) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/JAN190759

MARAUDERS #4 DX https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190920

MARVEL ACTION BLACK PANTHER TP BOOK 01 STORMY WEATHER (C: 1- https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/MAR190636

MARVEL TALES ANNIHILATION #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190880

METAL MEN #3 (OF 12) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190567

MIDDLEWEST #13 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190218

MIRKA ANDOLFOS UNSACRED #2 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191445

MONEY SHOT #3 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192196

NEW MUTANTS #4 DX https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190909

NIGHTWING #67 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190569

OLD GUARD FORCE MULTIPLIED #1 (OF 5) (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190026

ONCE & FUTURE #5 (OF 6) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191414

OUTER DARKNESS TP VOL 02 (MR) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190115

PROJECT X-MAS #1 CVR A TOP SECRET  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190035

RED MOTHER #1 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191378

REVENGE OF COSMIC GHOST RIDER #1 (OF 5) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190950

RICK & MORTY #57  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191995

ROKU #3 (OF 4) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192175

RUNAWAYS #28 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT191057

SAINT YOUNG MEN HC GN VOL 01 (MR) (C: 1-1-0) https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT192395

SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #102 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190575

SCREAM CURSE OF CARNAGE #2 https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190959

SFSX SAFE SEX #4  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190245

SHAZAM #9  https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT190576

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[the-haven-of-fiction]

Hear Me

Summary: Modern AU Professor Tom is away for the night and receives a distressed call from his wife.  

Genre: Fluff/Romance/Erotica (?)

Rating/Warning: M -  Possibly me being overly cautious.  Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea.  Contains use of “Daddy” and things of that nature.  Non-explicit shenanigans.  Is “Literary Phone Sex” a thing in fiction?  I dunno.  You have been warned.

Author’s Notes: I just really hate Tom Hiddleston and my own imagination right now.  That fault is with those two things, but let’s blame @i-wanna-be-toms-body-pillow instead.  Same characters as See Me.  All mistakes are mine.

He was reaching for his phone to text her a goodnight kiss when her ringtone filled the hotel room.

"There is something skittering in the walls!" she Snoopy wailed before his greeting was complete. "Get back here right this instant and fulfill your wedding vows!"

He smiled at the sincere panic in her voice, feeling like it was disloyal but unable to stop it.  Her fear of the creepy crawlies, as she called them, was something he learned rather quickly about her.  She'd gone as far as to include it in their wedding ceremony, inspiring the same kind of smiles from those in attendance who were familiar with her long-standing aversion.

"Darling, as much as I relish being your rescuer and as much as I am loathe to deny any request of yours, I'm afraid I am unable to directly assist you with this."

"Then I want a divorce," she sniffed petulantly, inspiring a chuckle that accompanied the widening of his grin. "I'll find someone else, someone who won't leave me helpless and undefended to go prattle on about a paper at a stupid conference."

"Nonsense,” he replied and stretched his long legs, slouching in the chair a bit after two hours of putting the finishing touches on his lecture notes.  “You're never helpless.  That's what makes your chosen helplessness so appealing.  And you assured me that you were fine with my going alone."

She huffed at him and an idea that he had formed on the flight for a possible situation just like this came to his mind. It was that perfect irritating distance, just long enough to make the trip by car too tedious and just short enough for a mere hour in the air.  They had initially planned for her to accompany him to the academic conference at which he was presenting the following morning.  A surprise visit from a dear cousin she hadn’t seen in a couple of years had altered that.

It was their first overnight separation and they were both surprised at the degree of her anxiety over it; while he was secretly proud that she had progressed to the point where the reality of being without him, even for one night, was cause her to be in such a state, he was in equal measure truly concerned for her.  Although she had protested that she didn’t mind being without him for a night, his instincts had told him otherwise.  Curiosity was high.  He was eager to know if she would actually verbalize what she was feeling, if she trusted him to respond with that balance of indulgence and tenderness that she was learning to rely on.  

"Listen to me," he said, shifting his tone to the one that made her whole body alert and pliable, "Daddy is going to take care of his baby doll.  I want you to feel safe and get a good night’s rest so you can enjoy your visit tomorrow.  I'm going to tell you what you to do and you're going to obey.  Yes?"

"Yes," was the reply to his gentle prompt and he was filled with pride that there hadn't been any hesitation on her part.

He picked up his laptop with his free hand and moved from the table to the bed, glancing at the time to figure out where she might be in the house.

"It's almost 11, so you should be in your pajamas and heading to bed."

She wasn't quite sure if it was a question or not and chose to treat it as one, wanting to make it clear to him that she was fully willing to participate in this new avenue of their dynamic.

"Yes, I just got home from seeing the movie with Hallie and changed and was watching the news for a few minutes.  That's when I heard it."

Her voice was still shaky and the mention of the movie raised his suspicions.

"Did that monkey movie have creepy crawlies in it that bothered you?"

"It's not a monkey, it's an ape," she corrected him, as if he was a first grader in her classroom.  “Didn’t you learn anything at Cambridge?”  

She was being contrary in attempt to distract herself and these flashes of brattiness were also her way of testing him, of discovering how far she could go without consequences.  He was deciding how to respond when she rushed ahead.

"And yes, it did.  Big yucky ones," a shudder punctuating her words.  "And you weren't there for me to turn to."

It was said with honest distress, not with anger, and it temporarily made him put aside her previous comment.

"I'm sorry, Pop Tart.  I'm here now."

When she inquired if he wanted to switch to a video call, he declined. 

"No, I just want you to hear me.  Only my voice,” he answered, knowing that the statement would bring up specific recent memories for her.  She tried to stifle the half moan, half whimper in vain, the sound making it clear that his plan was working.

He talked her into the bedroom, asking a few questions about the evening, checking to make sure she had eaten dinner and done her stretches.  She had pulled back the fluffy comforter on their sleigh bed and was about to climb in when his next command made her freeze.  He waited a few moments before repeating it.

“Is something wrong?  Do you understand what I’ve said?”

“I understand, sir,” spoken so softly that he almost didn’t hear it.  It was a surprise, it was a first; and it delighted him to a degree that was just as surprising.  She’d never addressed him in that manner and he had never asked her about it. Something about this particular situation must have brought it out of her.  He immediately decided that pointing it out right then in the moment wouldn’t be helpful to her and filed it away to discuss later, briefly settling on the possible explanation that using the term was a sign that she was feeling safe, that she was trusting his guidance.

“That’s how you normally sleep.  I know it might be different because I’m not there and you may be worried about having to suddenly flee from the monsters in the wall, but I think it’s important that we try to make this as routine as possible in that way,” he calmly explained.

She murmured in agreement.  When her pajamas were on the chair by the closet and she was naked between the soft cotton sheets, he told her to put him on speaker and lay the phone on his empty pillow.

“Now,” he proceeded, low and steady, “I want you to raise your arms and place them up on either side of your head.”  

He waited until the rustling stopped and she was settled comfortably before taking a deep breath and continuing.

“Hands off, darling, unless I give permission.”

This time she didn’t even bother with attempting to hide her reaction.  The frustrated groan was the sound of victory to his keen ears, as was her increasing rapid breathing.  She had assumed that certain guided activities were sure to follow and his command made her painfully aware of how intense her physical reaction was to the situation.  

Then he began his assault.

She would always be rather baffled at how his voice had such an impact on her.  It was contradictory in a way when she contemplated the qualities that made it so unique: rough but smooth, arousing but soothing, spicy but sweet.  The sound itself was enough to make anyone swoon; coupled with the specific manner of his address, it was lethal.  He never rushed, never spoke carelessly; and when it came to his beloved poetry, he was an enthusiastic expert.

It flowed from his mouth with confidence, with authority, with a passion that she periodically teased him about.  A selection of his favorites from the treasures that time has produced, lines he had read over and over to the point that reading was unnecessary. Poems in Ancient Greek whose words she did not understand, but whose sounds left her in no doubt of the message. Shakespeare, Donne, Cowper, Burns, Byron, Shelley, Rossetti...

And while she knew he recited them and poured over them day after day and semester after semester in his classroom, this was different.  This was for her.  Solely for her.  And she heard them as she never had before, heard him as she never had before.  She felt his voice as though his hands were ghosting over her skin, felt it rise and fall and wash over her, felt it dip and turn as if it led her in a swirling giddy dance.  

But when the words became new to her, tears stung her eyes.  They were new, although the poetic voice was familiar.  It was him.  His words. His poems.  

About her.

Things that made her gasp, things that made her back arch off the bed, things that made her wish she had turned out the lights.

Now she had to grip at the pillow with desperate fingers to keep herself from disobeying him, her muscles tensing, her legs moving restlessly against the sheets that were no longer cool.  Or dry.

“Hands, Pop Tart,” he reminded her sharply, interrupting himself, her every exhale escalating to a steady, panting moan.  “Are they in the proper place?”

“Ye-yes, s-sir,” she managed to stutter out on a sob.

She was almost at the breaking point when he, mercifully, seemed to be finished.

“Still with me, darling?” he asked with a casual air that absolutely infuriated her, as if she weren’t a quivering, fevered mess driven to near madness by his voice.  Just his voice.

All she could muster was a pitiful sound that he interpreted as a “yes” and he relented.

For a moment.

“I’ve got one last selection for you,” he whispered. “I’ve saved it for last.  I think it will take your breath away.”

She shut her eyes in frustration, having no idea what could possibly be left to say, and was a second away from begging him to grant her freedom so she could end things.

But his voice stopped her.

“I am Sam.”

“Sam I am.”

The hilarious combination of that panty-melting voice with the Dr.Seuss classic she read so often to her first graders had her crying with laughter by the third page.  She was wheezing when he added a gleeful “The End.”

“You see, darling?  I told you it would take your breath away,” he informed her.  “And now you may reach for some tissues, dry your face, and burrow under the covers for a good night’s sleep.”

“That’s it? But, but…I…” she stumbled over the words, her shocked protests making him chuckle.

“Yes, I know.  Life is full of disappointments.  Or denials, in your case.”

He was enjoying this entirely too much; she wanted to grab the bloody phone and hurl it across the room.  Insufferable man!

“And yes, the Hands Off rule applies until I return home.  My hands get their turn first.”

He took advantage of her stunned silence and continued.

“Maybe next time when I ask you if you’ll be okay by yourself, you’ll think of this…lesson in delayed gratification and tell me the truth.”

“You are big meanie head!  And I renew my divorce request!” she cried in bewilderment.

“I love you, too, Pop Tart,” he cooed, “Goodnight.”

“I do not like you, Sam I am,” she grumbled and hit the End Call button with more force than was necessary.

The ding of a text alert arrived a few seconds later.

“I heard that. xoxo”